Topic: Illicit Trade in Small Arms
Country: Iran
Delegate Name: Koerner Gray Buchta
School: Forest Hills Central High School
Topic page: background guide and all position papers All Iran position papers GLIMUN 2009 committees
Most deaths in the 40 or so wars going on all over the world right now are civilian, and most are caused by small arms. This is facilitated by the illegal trade in small arms. This trade adds fuel to small, civil conflicts in the third world and arms international terrorists and criminal organizations. It’s clear that all of the world would benefit in terms of security from a decrease in the small arms trade. Most trade and production of weapons is legal, but weapons often end up in the hands of the wrong people, and it can be difficult to control this process. Most weapons are produced by large, developed countries (e.g. the USA, China, Israel), and end up in smaller, under-developed ones (e.g. Sierra Leone, Sri Lanka, Nigeria). The global arms market amounts to about 4 billion dollars. About 10 to 20 percent of this is illegal. Weapons get from producing countries to conflict zones in several ways. They may be trafficked, in large quantities and in an organized fashion, by international arms dealers. They may also be stolen or intercepted from governments or militaries on a smaller scale, or purchased from corrupt individuals representing governments or militaries. Because people make so much money off of the arms trade, there is no feasible way to completely stop it; instead, we must manage it.
As previously stated, most of the weapons produced in the world are by developed countries who love to “promote international peace and freedom.” This hypocrisy is undeniable and very disappointing, but is not surprising. The issue is of particular concern to Iran because of its geographic location in the Caucasus, next to Afghanistan. Afghanistan currently tops the list of countries with the most illegal small arms, with about 10 million of them in circulation. Naturally, this is of concern to Iran, as it threatens the region's stability. It is also troubling to Iran that almost a decade of US presence in Afghanistan has not done anything to solve this problem. The government of Iran has also been accused, in the past, of illegally providing “terrorist groups” such as Hezbollah with small arms. It is true in some respects that Iran has given military aid and training to Hezbollah, but it has only done so through legal channels. It should also be noted that Hezbollah is a legitimate political organization with huge popular support. It is also is a major provider of social services, including schools, hospitals, and agricultural services.
The Islamic Republic of Iran believes that this challenge should be resolved through concerted common action based on the United Nations principles. The issue of arms trafficking, as with any other business question, can be best understood in terms of supply and demand. Developed countries have a responsibility to reduce the supply. We should encourage countries to lower rates of arms production. We should also establish a universal system where all countries would mark the arms they produce in a way that could trace the arms back to exactly where they came from. There needs to be an internationally-followed standard, and there needs to be UN checks on it. All countries should also work to stop the transfer or import of illegal arms into their country, if they haven’t done so already. Developed countries should take some more responsibility by helping small, poor nations who find it difficult to handle the problem of controlling the flow of illicit small arms into their country.
