Lawmakers push for Iran’s withdrawal from NPT

The statement, said the NPT is based on a reciprocal balance of “commitment to non-proliferation” and “guaranteeing members’ rights and security,” but recent years and especially recent developments have proven that international structures based on the treaty have become completely ineffective, structurally discriminatory and incapable of securing Iran’s minimum legal rights.

The lawmakers listed four reasons for the necessity and urgency of Iran’s withdrawal from the NPT and the defining new scientific, technical and legal cooperation with aligned countries.

First, they said the treaty has been ineffective in securing the safety of nuclear facilities. Peaceful facilities under supervision should enjoy the highest level of international protection and immunity from any threat or military attack, but responsible bodies have taken no deterrent action against open threats and attacks on Iran’s nuclear centres, effectively endorsing the aggression through silence and passivity.

Second, they cited enemy attacks on infrastructure and the assassination of scientists, including direct attacks, organised sabotage, two recent imposed wars, the assassination of nuclear scientists and repeated threats by U.S. and Israeli officials to launch nuclear strikes against Iran. These, they said, are undeniable evidence that accepting maximum supervision has brought Iran no security and has become a tool for identifying and targeting the country’s power components.

Third, they said Iran has been completely deprived of the NPT’s legal benefits. Despite fully implementing its obligations and accepting unprecedented supervision, Iran has always been denied its rights under Article 4 of the treaty, especially non-discriminatory access to peaceful technology and international cooperation, and has instead faced the harshest unjust and illegal sanctions.

Fourth, they said the IAEA’s inspections have become a cover for industrial and security espionage and continuous political pressure rather than a tool for verification, the latest example being the unjustified referral of Iran’s nuclear file to the UN Security Council.

The statement cited Article 10 of the NPT, which gives any member the right to withdraw from the treaty if it decides that extraordinary events related to the subject matter of the treaty have jeopardised its supreme interests, with three months’ notice to all members and the UN Security Council.

The lawmakers said that with continued existential threats, open aggression against Iran’s territory and facilities, and the absolute ineffectiveness of international guarantees, Iran’s supreme interests and national security are in serious jeopardy and an extraordinary situation.

They called on the parliament’s presiding board to activate the legal process for Iran’s full withdrawal from the NPT and defining new international cooperation with Iran’s friends as quickly as possible, in accordance with parliament’s internal regulations.

MNA