Global Security Newswire

A meeting last week aimed at exploring options for establishing a regional ban on weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East proved unproductive, with delegates from Israel, Iran and Arab nations doing little more than exchanging rhetoric, the London Guardian reported (see GSN, July 6).

While no participants walked out of the European Union-sponsored meeting in Brussels, it for the most part allowed time only for standard speechifying by the sizable pack of delegates, according to the British newspaper.

"There wasn't much of substance," according to one diplomat who attended the two-day meeting . "Usually there is time to get the venting out of the way and move on to more interesting issues, but this was so large that there was really just time for set pieces. ... All the same it was a good effort by the EU. If it had been done earlier it might have been more helpful."

The closed-door conference was held with the goal of building confidence among Middle Eastern nations for a path toward establishing a regional WMD-free zone. Representing their respective governments were Iranian envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency Ali Asghar Soltanieh and Israeli Foreign Ministry Deputy Director General Jeremy Issacharoff. Most Arab countries, notably minus Yemen and Libya, also dispatched senior diplomats to the Belgium gathering.

White House point man for arms control and nonproliferation Gary Samore canceled his anticipated keynote address to the event, thus offering an underwhelming demonstration of support from the Obama administration, according to the Guardian.

There are longstanding disputes over unconventional weaponry in the region. Israel is widely assumed to hold a nuclear arsenal, while Jerusalem, Washington and other governments suspect Tehran's atomic activities have a military component. Syria is also believed to wield a significant chemical weapons arsenal.

It has been more than a year since the last Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty review conference established the goal of holding a meeting in 2012 on outlawing all chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and their modes of delivery in the Middle East. Scant progress has been achieved in preparing the groundwork for the meeting, with a host nation and a facilitator yet to be determined.

In the running to host the WMD summit are Canada, Finland and the Netherlands, the newspaper reported. A potentially contentious issue is who will be selected to manage the gathering, with some arguing for a high-profile statesman and others calling for a less well-known individual able to fully commit to the project.

A facilitator is to be selected by September. If the decision is not made by then, prospects for a summit next year are questionable, according to the Guardian (Julian Borger, London Guardian, July 11).