UN Secretary General warns of re-emerging danger of nuclear war on anniversary of Hiroshima's bombing

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres warned that the "drums of nuclear war are beating once again" while the talks led by the United Nations on nuclear disarmament continue in Geneva, New York and Vienna.On the 78th Anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Guterres urged the international community to learn from the nuclear disaster that struck the Japanese city on August 6, 1945.In a message read by Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu, Guterres said "the drums of nuclear war are beating once again. Mistrust and division are on the rise. The nuclear shadow that loomed over the Cold War has re-emerged. And some countries are recklessly rattling the nuclear saber once again, threatening to use these tools of annihilation."He also called on the international community to speak with one voice on this issue as outlined in his new peace plan.The new plan, launched last July, calls on member states to recommit to the pursuit of a world free of nuclear weapons and to strengthen global norms against their use and proliferation.Guterres stressed that states possessing nuclear weapons must commit to never use them, emphasizing the United Nations commitment to working with global leaders to strengthen the global disarmament and non-proliferation regime through the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.aTalks on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons are taking place in Vienna until August 11.