On Tuesday, the United Nations urged for more decisive global action to prevent nuclear testing, warning of the dangers of “collective suicide.” 

In his message commemorating the International Day Against Nuclear Tests, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged essential countries to ratify the international convention prohibiting peaceful and military nuclear tests.

Guterres said “This year, we face an alarming rise in global mistrust and division. At a time in which nearly 13,000 nuclear weapons are stockpiled around the world — and countries are working to improve their accuracy, reach, and destructive power — this is a recipe for annihilation.”

The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) therefore represents a fundamental step in our quest for a world free of nuclear weapons, he emphasized.

The treaty in question was opened for signature in September 1996, but it has yet to enter into force because it requires 44 specific nuclear technology holder countries to sign and ratify it, eight of which have yet to do so: China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, Pakistan, and the United States.

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