S/PV.6279 Security Council

The President (spoke in French): The Security Council will now begin its consideration of the item on its agenda. The Council is meeting in accordance with the understanding reached in its prior consultations. Following consultations among the members of the Security Council, I have been authorized to make the following statement on behalf of the Council: "The Security Council reaffirms its commitment to the independence, sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Iraq, and emphasizes the importance of the stability and security of Iraq for its people, the region and the international community. "The Security Council welcomes the letter sent by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iraq on 18 January 2010 which confirms that the Government of Iraq supports the international non-proliferation regime and complies with disarmament treaties and other relevant international instruments and is committed to taking additional steps to comply with non- proliferation and disarmament standards, and has also committed to inform the Security Council, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and other relevant agencies on progress made towards implementing those measures in accordance with the Government of Iraq's constitutional and legislative procedures and in compliance with international norms and obligations. "The Security Council welcomes Iraq's accession to the Convention on the Prohibition of the Development, Production, Stockpiling and Use of Chemical Weapons and on their Destruction, becoming the 186th State party on 12 February 2009. "The Security Council also welcomes the intention of the Government of Iraq to sign the Hague Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation. "The Security Council also welcomes that Iraq signed in 2008 the Additional Protocol to the Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency and that the Additional Protocol is currently before Parliament for ratification, as is the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty. The Security Council further welcomes that, consistent with Iraqi law, Iraq has agreed to apply the Additional Protocol provisionally, pending its entry into force. "The Security Council underlines, in particular, the importance of Iraq ratifying the Additional Protocol. The Security Council also requests that the IAEA inform the Council as soon as possible regarding the quality of Iraq's safeguards-related cooperation with the IAEA, including provisional implementation of the Additional Protocol pending entry into force. "The Security Council underlines its readiness, once the necessary steps have been taken, to review, with a view towards lifting, the restrictions in resolutions 687 (1991) and 707 (1991) related to weapons of mass destruction and civil nuclear activities." This statement will be issued as a document of the Security Council under the symbol S/PRST/2010/5. The Security Council has thus concluded the present stage of its consideration of the item on its agenda. The meeting rose at 10.25 am. 10-2525]