IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei welcomed Cuba's announcement to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and to ratify the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (Tlatelolco Treaty) establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Latin America and the Caribbean.
He expressed the hope that Cuba will conclude soon a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the Agency, as required under Article III of the NPT.
With Cuba's intention to become party to the NPT, we have come a step closer to a universal nuclear non-proliferation regime," Mr. ElBaradei said.
Only three countries worldwide with significant nuclear activities now remain outside the NPT. With 188 countries party to the Treaty, the NPT is the most adhered to international agreement after the United Nations Charter and the most widely adhered to multilateral arms control treaty.
The NPT makes it mandatory that all non-nuclear-weapon States conclude comprehensive safeguards agreements with the IAEA, and thus put all of their nuclear material under IAEA safeguards.
The Director General also welcomed Cuba's ratification of the Tlatelolco Treaty, which completes the process of having all countries in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean as members of the nuclear-weapon-free zone in that region.
Mr ElBaradei said that, "the Tlatelolco Treaty provides a good model for other regional nuclear-weapon-free zones to follow". He added that "universal adherence of all countries in regions having nuclear-weapon-free zone arrangements is important to further strengthen the non-proliferation regime".