Global Security Newswire

Officials from Arab League states and Egypt, along with Russia and the United States, on Thursday studied a proposal for keeping nuclear weapons out of the Middle East, the Associated Press reported.

Consideration of the proposal from the Russian-headquartered PIR Center occurred in Geneva, Switzerland, alongside the continuing Preparatory Committee meeting for the 2015 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference.

The plan's measures include a pledge by Middle Eastern nations to avoid intraregional military conflict, accept oversight of atomic facilities by the International Atomic Energy Agency, and establish an organization to promote joint nuclear work in the zone.

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Thomas Countryman and Arab League delegate Wael al-Assad both cited Iran as a significant obstacle to any such deal. Washington and allied governments suspect the nation of seeking a nuclear-weapon capability, while Tehran says its atomic operations have no military component.

Russian delegate Mikhail Ulyanov also noted the importance of including Israel, which is widely accepted to hold the Middle East's only nuclear arsenal. Israel refuses to confirm or deny that it has such weapons.

Egypt has led the push for conducting an international meeting on a WMD-free Middle East, as called for at the 2010 NPT review conference. The event was to have happened last year, but has been delayed to 2013 or later. There is some skepticism on whether it will ever occur.