Iran and DPR Korea say no to the ATT, so no consensus

The President finally arrived in his seat at 3.15pm. The room was so full that security had been called and no one else (including certain government delegations) was being admitted. At 3.25pm, based on advice from UN Security, the President called for civil society representatives to leave the room so that the government representatives could all get a seat. Compliance with his call was, though, fairly minimal so he was forced ten minutes later to ask everyone in the room to leave. 

 

When the 17th meeting of the Final Conference finally opened at 4.03pm, the President reiterated that the first decision would be to consider the draft decision to adopt the text of the treaty. Iran called for the floor for a point of order. Iran said the aims of an ATT had been "rendered out of reach" due to many legal flaws and loopholes. There was no reference to a prohibition on supply of arms to those who commit an act of aggression.  "Are we rewarding the aggressors by not prohibiting arms to them?" The right to have guns was included for the benefit of only one State while the inalienable right of peoples to self-determination had been completely ignored. The right of importers was subordinated to the rights of exporters. The flaws and loopholes are the product of a process that overlooked the rights of all States. Despite the flexibility by Iran, it objected to the adoption of the draft decision.

 

DPR Korea then asked for the floor. It also objected to the adoption of the draft decision. It said the text was not well balanced. The draft was "a risky draft" that could be abused by arms exporters.

 

Syria then took the floor to condemn the "bloody trade" in arms that were being supplied to "terrorists" and similarly objected to the adoption of the draft decision. It did not refer to the inalienable right of peoples under foreign occupation to self-determination. The treaty was an interference in the work of the Security Council. It did not include a ban on the supply of arms to "terrorist" armed groups and non-State actors. It did not include the crime of aggression.

 

The President tried again to get agreement, but Iran and DPR Korea raised their flags to block the adoption of the decision. The President suspended the meeting at 4.30pm to conduct additional consultations.