Ten years ago, after the Iran nuclear deal, I wrote in the Guardian about the urgent need for global nuclear disarmament – starting with the establishment in the Middle East of a zone free from weapons of mass destruction. A decade later, as our region teeters on the edge of catastrophe, that call is no longer just noble – it is essential.

The proposal was not a new Iranian initiative. As far back as 1974, Iran proposed a zone free from nuclear weapons in the Middle East at the UN, and was soon joined by Egypt. That proposal passed overwhelmingly in the general assembly. After Iraq’s use of chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq war, the initiative was expanded in 1990 to cover all weapons of mass destruction. But for half a century, progress has been blocked by Israel and its main patron, the United States.

This paralysis is no accident. Despite overwhelming annual support in the UN general assembly and repeated commitments in the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), the Middle East remains one of the only regions on Earth without a nuclear weapon-free framework. More than 100 non-aligned states at the 1995 NPT review and extension conference made progress towards such a zone a condition of the treaty’s indefinite extension. Yet 30 years on, little has changed.

In fact, the situation has deteriorated, showing that while possession of nuclear weapons usually leads to reckless adventurism, such weapons in no way assure success, provide invincibility or safety for citizens. Recent unlawful military action by the nuclear-armed Israel – which is not party to the NPT – against Iran’s internationally monitored nuclear facilities brought our region dangerously close to an abyss. The failure........

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