Iran elected to UN disarmament committee post
Aaron Kalman, Times of Israel, Oct 2 2013
Members of the UNGA on Tuesday elected Iran as rapporteur for the committee responsible for Disarmament and International Security, a body that deals with all matters regarding disarmament, including nuclear weapons. Replacing Norwegian diplomat Knut Langeland, the Iranian representative will relay information relating to the committee’s proceedings during the UN’s 68th session, spanning 2013-14, to the UNGA. In July, when Iran applied for the rapporteur position, Israel’s UN Ambassador Ron Prosor said in a statement:

Allowing Iran to be on the UN committee dealing with nuclear disarmament and weapons proliferation is like inviting Assad, the Syrian dictator responsible for the death of 100,000 of his own people, to be the head of the population census bureau.

In addition to appointing Iran as rapporteur, the committee gave the position of chair to Libya (? – RB) and vice chairs to Germany, Ecuador and Montenegro. The committee has no authority to make binding decisions, but is in charge of drafting resolutions on the subject of international security, many of which are later debated and often accepted by the UNGA. It also cooperates with the Conference on Disarmament, based in Geneva, and the UN’s Disarmament Commission. Known also as the First Committee and comprising representatives of all 193 member states, the Disarmament and International Security body is described on the UN’s website as one that “deals with disarmament, global challenges and threats to peace that affect the international community and seeks out solutions to the challenges in the international security regime.”