The newly introduced resolution , which was put forth by Egypt, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and the United Arab Emirates was passed without a vote. The resolution affirmed the “urgent need for all states in the Middle East” to adopt full-scope IAEA safeguards as a confidence-building measure and a step towards realizing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in the Middle East. The IAEA Director-General was requested to take necessary measures to facilitate the early application of Comprehensive Safeguards to all nuclear activities in the region, including the preparation of a model agreement taking into account the views of regional states, as a necessary step towards the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free zone. Israel joined the consensus on the resolution noting that IAEA safeguards should be applied in the Middle East in the context of a nuclear-weapon-free zone based on the following principles: primacy of zonal initiatives, negotiations among the states in the region, and verification of agreements through mutual inspections complemented by IAEA safeguards.

This resolution was subsequently adopted annually without a vote until 2006 .

Photo credit: IAEA/Dean Calma

A general view of the IAEA Board of Governors meeting. February 2, 2006