Yemen
Yemen attended as an observer the First Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (1MSP) in Vienna in June 2022 and the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (2MSP) in November and December 2023. It voted in favour of adopting the TPNW at the UN Diplomatic Conference on 7 July 2017 and has consistently voted in favour of the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty, including in 2023. Yemen maintains policies and practices that are compatible with all of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the TPNW, and can therefore sign and ratify or accede to the Treaty without the need for a change in conduct.
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Test | Compatible | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2023) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes (observer) |
| 2MSP delegation size (% women) | 3 (0%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | No |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Ratified 1986) |
| Ratified the CTBT | No (Signed 1996) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1979) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 2000) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (14 Aug 2002) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | Yes (Original) |
| Additional Protocol | No |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
During the high-level segment of the UN General Assembly in September 2023, the President of the Presidential Leadership Council of Yemen, Rashad Mohammed Al-Alimi, called for greater measures ‘to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, notably the Iranian nuclear weapon, their ballistic missiles and their role in sabotaging the region’.1
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2023, Yemen said that nuclear weapons ‘constitute a threat to regional and international peace and security’. It expressed its support for ‘all initiatives aimed at limiting the spread of nuclear weapons and establishing zones free of weapons of mass destruction, especially in the Middle East region’.2
At the Tenth Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in August 2022, Yemen welcomed the TPNW’s adoption in 2017 and its entry into force in 2021, and described the convening of the 1MSP as a step towards the goal of a nuclear-weapon-free world.3
Recommendations
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Yemen should urgently adhere to the TPNW.
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Yemen should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol with the IAEA, and upgrade to a modified Small Quantities Protocol.
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Yemen should also ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT).