Nuclear powers must serve as role-models in nuclear disarmament process – Nazarbayev

“The aggregate yield of nuclear arsenals on the planet is 113,000 times higher of the bombs thrown on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Therefore, Kazakhstan, as you know, which severely suffered from the nuclear weapon tests and decided to close its nuclear testing site and renounced its nuclear arsenal, has a moral right for this and it constantly stands for reduction and liquidation of nuclear weapons. In view of this, I suggested naming nuclear disarmament the main goal of the 21^st century. I am glad that the UN General Assembly backed our proposition. Three months ago it approved the Universal Declaration on Building the Nuclear-Weapons-Free World. Kazakhstan consistently contributes to the strengthening of the nuclear disarmament regime. Signing of the Agreement with the IAEA on deployment of low-enriched uranium bank on its territory in August 2015 became an important step. We have always backed the international talks on Iran’s nuclear program and made a practical contribution to it,” Nazarbayev said.

The Head of State noted that in December 2015 Kazakhstan supplied 60 tonnes of natural uranium to Iran as a compensation for shipment of low-enriched uranium from this country. This should help ensure nuclear non-proliferation regime and exercise of the states’ legal rights to develop peaceful atom, non-discrimination and access to nuclear fuel.

“It would be right to say that the entire world realizes the complexity of this issue. As for reduction of the nuclear tests, non-possession of nuclear arms, when the whole world faces the threats of terrorism, the nuclear empires must serve as role-models in this issue. Otherwise, there will be a situation, when one country possesses and improves its nuclear arsenal, while others are banned to do it. This is quite a dangerous tendency. All the countries of the world must unite to jointly work in this area,” stressed Nazarbayev.