Mr. Chair,
The Cuban delegation wishes to congratulate you on your election to preside over the sessions of the 70th General Conference of the Agency, as well as all the members of the Bureau. We reaffirm our willingness to contribute to the success of the Conference.
Against a backdrop of escalating warmongering rhetoric by the United States and the deliberate modernization and expansion of its nuclear arsenals, it is urgent to strengthen the international regime for nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. The IAEA’s work to advance this goal is crucial.
Cuba condemns in the strongest possible terms the aggression by the United States and Israel against Iran on February 28, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the principles and purposes of the United Nations Charter, international law, and the Agency’s own Statute.
We reject the indiscriminate attacks against Iranian nuclear facilities intended for peaceful purposes and the U.S. government’s threat, in the context of this aggression, to annihilate an entire civilization.
These actions undermine the credibility of the global verification system overseen by the IAEA. Strict compliance with the obligations undertaken as States Parties to the Agency is the only guarantee for preventing incidents of this nature.
Mr. Chairman,
Cuba strictly and transparently honors its commitments to the Agency regarding nuclear safeguards. We have a robust legal system and a coherent state policy that reaffirm the exclusively peaceful use of nuclear energy and ionizing radiation. In line with this position, our country is about to host a voluntary mission from the Integrated Regulatory Review Service, which will conduct a comprehensive evaluation of our program.
We take this opportunity to thank the Agency for its support during the process of drafting the new Integrated Plan to Support Nuclear Physical Security for the period 2026–2030, which was successfully completed in January 2026. Cuba is proud to be the first country to complete the self-assessment methodology in the field of physical security, as a testament to the consistent and close cooperation between our country and the IAEA.
Cuba also participated proactively in the Tenth Review Meeting of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Nuclear Safety and presented its third National Report on compliance with the Convention.
We would like to extend our greetings to the Ibero-American Forum of Radiological and Nuclear Regulatory Agencies, of which our Office of Regulation and Environmental Safety is a founding member. The Forum complements the work of the IAEA and promotes the highest levels of radiation protection and nuclear technological and physical security in all practices involving radioactive materials throughout the Ibero-American region.
Cuba recognizes the Agency’s significant contribution to training, an area of particular importance for developing countries. The creation of programs such as the Marie Curie and Lisa Meitner fellowships helps to balance capacity-building between developed and developing countries while simultaneously strengthening the role of women in the nuclear sciences.
We emphasize the importance of continuing to strengthen and expand initiatives for technical cooperation. Projects such as Atoms4Food, Atoms4NetZero, and NutecPlastics enable us, through science and innovation in the use of nuclear techniques, to develop innovative solutions to existing challenges in our societies in such sensitive areas as food, energy, and health.
In this same context, we recognize the Agency’s contributions to the Regional Cooperation Agreement for the Promotion of Nuclear Science and Technology in Latin America and the Caribbean (ARCAL) and the noble purpose of the “Rays of Hope” initiative. We reaffirm our commitment to continue participating actively in both of these forums.
Cuba has promoted important cooperation projects with the Agency, focused on issues of national priority such as the fight against cancer, food security, and environmental protection.
Mr. President,
Over the course of this year, Cuba has faced an unprecedented tightening of the U.S. economic, commercial, and financial blockade, the imposition of an energy blockade—equivalent in its impact to a naval blockade— and the frequent and systematic threat of military aggression by the United States government against my country, which has had a pervasive and negative impact on all areas of social development, including the use of nuclear energy for exclusively peaceful purposes.
These actions violate the spirit of Article IV of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and significantly hinder the financial and commercial operations necessary to carry out our cooperation projects. Cuba is prevented from acquiring spare parts for linear accelerators and from purchasing radioisotopes, reagents, and state-of-the-art technological supplies for the treatment of cancer and other complex diseases.
The United States’ ruthless economic stranglehold against Cuba deliberately restricts my country’s right to life and development.
Despite this, Cuba reaffirms its commitment to continue promoting cooperation with the Agency and to maintain appropriate levels of nuclear, radiological, and physical security, with adequate capabilities for preparedness and response to radiological emergencies. We will continue to cooperate with the IAEA and offer our collaboration and expertise to all countries that need it.
We reaffirm our commitment to the Agency’s technical and objective work and reject political conditions and discriminatory practices that limit the inalienable right of all our countries to the exclusively peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Thank you very much.