The Kingdom also pledged support to all endeavors to secure dangerous nuclear materials ahead of their total elimination.
In a speech delivered on behalf of Saudi Arabia at the summit late on Tuesday night here, President of General Intelligence Prince Muqrin renewed Kingdom's calls to declare the Middle East and the Gulf region free from all weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons.
Muqrin, who led the Saudi Arabian delegation to the summit, conveyed the greetings of Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah to US President Barack Obama, the chairman of the summit, and the leaders and heads of delegations participating in the international gathering.
Muqrin noted that the Kingdom had submitted a report that highlighted its views on the measures needed to make the Middle East a nuclear-free zone. He emphasized that these views conformed closely with the summit's initiative.
"This report of the Kingdom was issued as an official document of the Sixth Review Conference of States' Parties to the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in 2000," he said, adding: In this regard, the Saudi government has repeatedly confirmed the concerns raised in this report which are compatible with the relevant resolutions of the UN General Assembly in 1974, and adopted at each session of the General Assembly by consensus since its 35th session in 1980, including the resolution which calls for declaring the Middle East and Arab Gulf region free from all weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons.
Muqrin said Israel's possession of nuclear weapons constitutes a fundamental obstacle to achieving security and stability in the Middle East. He pointed out that the justifications submitted for Israel's acquisition and development of weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons, are clearly not compatible with its claimed desire to achieve peace with the peoples and countries of the region.
Referring to the Iranian nuclear row, the prince said Saudi Arabia welcomes the international efforts to find a peaceful solution to this crisis through dialogue. "This would in a way ensure Iran's right, like other countries in the region, to the peaceful use of nuclear energy in accordance with procedural safeguards under the supervision of International Agency of Atomic Energy (IAEA)," he said while expressing hope that Iran would respond positively to these efforts to put an end to the standoff.
Prince Muqrin also asserted that real peace must be based on trust and good intentions by all countries and peoples of the region as well as on freedom from injustice and occupation. "Peace cannot be built on the ability to possess nuclear weapons, or the threat of using them, or on an imposition of hegemony that would be a source of concern and threat, not only to the peoples of the region but to international peace and security in general," he warned.
"Engagement by any state of the region in a nuclear arms race would close any window of opportunity for the establishment of regional peace and security, which forms an integral part of global peace and security. In this regard, Saudi Arabia welcomes the initiative of the United States to change its nuclear strategy in order to limit the conditions that might prompt it use nuclear weapons," he said, while adding that this is a major step toward making such weapons unusable.
"We hope that it will provide other states with an incentive to renounce their ambitions to acquire nuclear weapons," Muqrin concluded.
