Live
Audio Only
The 1968 NPT has been the foundation of global nuclear arms control since the Cold War, including a 2015 deal Iran signed with world powers that offered it access to global trade in return for accepting curbs to its atomic program.
The Iranian parliament received a motion on Tuesday to quit nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the assembly’s news site ICANA reported, in a move that appears to raise the stakes in Tehran’s confrontation with the West.
RELATED:
US Confirms 34 Troops With Traumatic Brain Injury After Iran Strike
According to the report, the Iranian parliament will discuss leaving the nuclear treaty, but did not specify when they would vote on the motion. Furthermore, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the highest authority in the Islamic Republic, makes the final decisions regarding the country’s nuclear policy.
This motion to the Iranian parliament comes a week after Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said the Islamic Republic could withdraw from the NPF if European countries refer it to the U.N. Security Council over a nuclear agreement, a move that would overturn diplomacy in Tehran’s turbulent relations with Western powers.
Iranian officials have also heavily criticized the U.S. administration for their role in isolating the Islamic Republic and increasing the economic blockade on teh country.
The 1968 NPT has been the foundation of global nuclear arms control since the Cold War, including a 2015 deal Iran signed with world powers that offered it access to global trade in return for accepting curbs to its atomic program.
The fate of the 2015 pact has been in doubt since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of it in 2018 and reimposed sanctions. Iran has responded by scaling back its commitments, although it says it wants the pact to survive.
Britain, France and Germany declared Iran in violation of the nuclear deal two weeks ago and have launched a dispute mechanism that could eventually see the matter referred back to the Security Council and the reimposition of U.N. sanctions.
Earlier this month, tensions between the two countries would reach an all-time high following the U.S.' assassintion of Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani in Baghdad.
Iran would respond to the U.S. assassination by targeting their positions in Iraq with more than 20 missiles. The Pentagon later confirmed that 34 U.S. soldiers suffered injuries related to the Iranian attack on two bases in Iraq.
Newsletter
