UN adopts nuclear arms resolution

In a first for a US president, Obama presided over the 15-member meeting, joined by such leaders as President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia, President Hu Jintao of China, and Prime Minister Gordon Brown of Britain. The meeting marked only the fifth head-of-state summit in UN history, and Obama’s presence was intended to signal the importance of the issue for the administration.

Addressing the leaders, Obama said nuclear weapons pose a “fundamental threat’’ to the world. “Just one nuclear weapon exploded in a city - be it New York or Moscow, Tokyo or Beijing, London or Paris - could kill hundreds of thousands of people and would badly destabilize our security, our economies, and our very way of life,’’ he said.

Although the resolution passed on a 15-to-0 vote, the United States failed to get approval from China and Russia to cite Iran and North Korea by name. In a diplomatic fudge, the text therefore refers only to Security Council resolutions concerning the countries. Obama mentioned the two countries by name in his speech, saying that he was not trying to single out any country, but that “international law is not an empty promise.’’

North Korea tested a second nuclear weapon this year, and Iran has resisted greater international oversight for its nuclear program. Iran says its nuclear activities are for peaceful purposes, but the United States and other major powers fear they are a cover for a weapons program.

Obama is pressing for a new worldwide treaty to halt the production of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium and strengthen the global Non-Proliferation Treaty, which has limited the spread of nuclear weapons for decades, but now is in danger of fraying.

President Nicolas Sarkozy of France was more pointed in his criticism of Tehran, listing offers made by world powers to Iran in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and this year, with no real response from the Islamic Republic.

“There comes a time when stubborn facts will compel us to take a decision if we want a world without nuclear weapons,’’ he said. “We live in a real world, not a virtual world,’’ and the world must act if Iran does not respond at a crucial Oct. 1 meeting in Geneva.

“If we have the courage to affirm and impose sanctions together against those who violate resolutions of the Security Council, we will be lending credibility to our commitment towards a world with fewer nuclear weapons,’’ Sarkozy said.

Brown also said “far tougher sanctions’’ must be imposed on Iran if it continues to enrich uranium in defiance of previous Security Council resolutions.

In closing remarks at the end of the two-hour meeting, Obama declared that ridding the world of nuclear weapons was a “difficult but achievable goal.’’

Obama’s agenda marks a sharp departure from the policies of his predecessor, George W. Bush, who was generally skeptical of the reliability and value of arms-control treaties. Obama has said the new approach is necessary because rogue states and terrorists are trying to acquire nuclear bombs and the spread of nuclear technology could set off arms races in volatile regions such as the Middle East.

Jeffrey Lewis, a nonproliferation specialist at the New America Foundation, said the UN resolution would represent significant international support for Obama’s nonproliferation agenda, which was first outlined in a speech in Prague in April.