UN General Assembly
1974

77. It is considerations such as those I have cited above that prompted my august Sovereign to propose the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East a few years ago and to send a message to this effect to the opening of this session of the Assembly. Inspired by His Imperial Majesty's proposal, my Government has, as you know, requested the inclusion of an item entitled, "Establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the region of the Middle East", in the agenda of the current session. As we have indicated in our explanatory memorandum accompanying this request: "While prospects for implementation of an all- encompassing denuclearization scheme in the region of the Middle East appear now to be more promising, greater access by States to nuclear technology has rendered the danger of nuclear weapon proliferation and a concomitant collapse of the non-proliferation structure, a more acute problem". [SeeAl9693]