Iran calls for concluding intl deal banning attacks of civilian nuclear sites
ASTANA. Sept 12 (Interfax) - Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has called for concluding multilateral legal documents banning attacks on civilian nuclear sites worldwide.
"A need has arisen to conclude multilateral legal documents that would prohibit attacks on nuclear sites intended for peaceful utilization of nuclear energy," Salehi said at a ministerial meeting of the Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia (CICA) in Astana on Wednesday.
The CICA, an intergovernmental forum for promoting cooperation on peace, security and stability in Asia initiated by Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, currently comprises Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Cambodia, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Palestine, Pakistan, Russia, South Korea, Tajikistan, Thailand, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam. The U.S., Japan, Ukraine, Indonesia, Malaysia, Qatar, Bangladesh, Philippines, the UN, the Arab League, and the OSCE have observer status.
In line with the Almaty Act adopted in 2002, the CICA performs its functions on the basis of consensus and voluntariness.
The organization's practical work is regulated by the 2004 CICA Catalogue of Confidence Building Measures in the military-political, economic, environmental and humanitarian dimensions and in combating new challenges and threats.
