Oman Presides Over Working Committee for Middle East Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone

New york: The Sultanate of Oman today chaired the proceedings of the third meeting of the Working Committee of the Seventh Session of the Conference on the Establishment of a Middle East Zone Free of Nuclear Weapons and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, held at United Nations Headquarters in New York. The meeting will continue its deliberations until 3 September 2026. According to Oman News Agency, the session is presided over by Ambassador Omar Said Al Kathiri, Permanent Representative of the Sultanate of Oman to the United Nations and President of the Seventh Session of the Conference. This meeting forms part of the preparatory process led by the Sultanate of Oman for the upcoming session of the Conference, scheduled to convene in New York from 16 to 20 November 2026. The Conference constitutes a negotiating track that brings together States of the region under the auspices of the United Nations, with the objective of concluding a treaty establishing a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other w eapons of mass destruction, thereby contributing to the strengthening of regional and international peace and security. The current meeting addresses a number of pivotal issues pertaining to the prospective form of the future treaty and its implementation mechanisms. Deliberations focus on the institutional arrangements the treaty may require to oversee compliance with its provisions and to facilitate cooperation among States Parties, as well as on the relationship between the future treaty and existing international agreements in the fields of disarmament and non-proliferation, with a view to ensuring complementarity and avoiding duplication of obligations. Participants are drawing upon the experiences of other regions worldwide that have already established nuclear-weapon-free zones, as well as the legal and technical expertise of specialists participating in the meeting. This is intended to enable regional states to familiarize themselves with the options and best practices that may be leveraged during n egotiations on a treaty specific to the Middle East. In its national statement delivered before the meeting, the Sultanate of Oman emphasized the importance of continuing to work in a spirit of cooperation and consensus among Member States, noting that the meetings held throughout the current year have contributed to deepening shared understanding of a number of issues pertaining to the future treaty, and to benefiting from relevant international experiences and expertise. This meeting forms part of a series of preparatory sessions convened by the Working Committee under the presidency of the Sultanate of Oman for the Seventh Session, with the aim of providing a space for technical and substantive dialogue among Member States in advance of the conference in November, and building a common ground that can facilitate progress in negotiations. Through its presidency of the Seventh Session of the Conference, the Sultanate of Oman continues its efforts, in collaboration with Member States and the United Nations , to bridge perspectives and foster dialogue and consensus, thereby supporting endeavors to realize the shared objective of establishing a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.