Former IAEA chief hopes for nuclear weapon-free Middle East

ABU DHABI // The Middle East was sent a message of hope by the former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency during his visit to Abu Dhabi.

Dr Hans Blix, chairman of the advisory board of the UAE’s nuclear programme, said he hoped multinational talks on Iran’s nuclear future would work out and lead to a Middle East free of nuclear weapons.

“I don’t think a conference can be reached at the moment but I’m very much in favour of [a nuclear-free Middle East],” he said during an exclusive interview with The National this week.

“One should not despair of a future that is more positive.”

He said Israel, Saudi Arabia and Egypt would only be satisfied with a total absence of any nuclear enrichment from Iran.

“However, the Non-Proliferation Treaty Conference in 2010 had a proposal for the creation of a zone free of weapons of mass destruction, including, notably, nuclear weapons, with the Finnish government as the host,” he said.

“There was resistance from the Israeli side as they felt a conference focusing on nuclear weapons would inevitably focus on Israeli weapons, while they felt Iranian enrichment should have been focused on. We do not see that a conference will take place before the 2015 review conference next month.”

Hamad Alkaabi, the UAE permanent representative to the IAEA, said the project was long overdue.

“The UAE maintained a strong position in support of such an objective, along with countries of the region,” he said.

“Such a zone, once established, will significantly contribute to the peace and security of the region. It will build confidence and strengthen cooperation among regional countries.”

He said it had been a major setback for the process so far.

“The UAE was very disappointed with this lack of process despite the positive efforts,” said Mr Alkaabi. “The next NPT review conference, taking place in New York, will look at this issue again in detail. It is unfortunate that no decision yet is made on if and when such a delayed Middle East conference will take place.”

Dr Blix said a potential solution could include a zone free of nuclear weapons and free of the means of producing weapons-grade material.

“Then Israel would have to do away with its weapons and reprocessing of plutonium, and Iran would have to dismantle its enrichment plant,” he said.

“Both would be very difficult to persuade but Israel would gain that not only Iran was without enrichment but other Arab states, like Saudi and Egypt, were too and these [states] would then have the benefit that Israel would do away with its nuclear weapons.”

During his two-day visit to Abu Dhabi, Dr Blix was briefed by officials from the Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation, the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation and the Critical Infrastructure and Coastal Protection Authority, as well as Mr Alkaabi. They discussed the UAE’s nuclear development, recruitment of Emiratis and the problems faced.

“They created a new corporation for operations,” he said. “The new people [in charge] include a number of women and we fully endorse that.”

Dr Blix said Emiratis working on site in Barakah, the site of the UAE’s first nuclear power station, had a safety culture ingrained.

“They are not just robots,” he said. “They understand, they feel proud and they have reasons to be proud. They are dedicated to what they do.”

cmalek@thenational.ae