On Friday, 22 May, the President of the
Review Conference
released the final version of the outcome document. The
new draft
contained
bracketed text
around paragraph
15, which included
the line that
“Iran can never
seek, develop or
acquire any
nuclear weapons.”
After spending the
day in
consultations, the
President
announced on
Friday evening
that consensus
could not be
reached on the
outcome document.
While the
disagreement
between the United
States and Iran
over singling Iran
out in this way
was clearly part
of the reason
consensus could
not be reached,
many delegations
expressed concerns
with the final
draft text during
their closing
remarks. By not
tabling the
document for
adoption, the
President avoided
a situation where
any one state or
group of states
blocked it. Some
delegations
thanked him for
this decision, as
a way to avoid
deepening the
already wide
divisions among
states parties.
But the fact
remains that after
four weeks of work
at this Review
Conference, NPT
states parties
failed to adopt a
substantive
outcome for the
third time in a
row. The divisions
are there, even if
not fully exposed
on the final day.
