Iran considers exiting Non-Proliferation Treaty

Iran has begun considering withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which it joined in 1974.

On Sunday, some Iranian legislators submitted a bill seeking to withdraw the country from the treaty.

The lawmakers are also pushing to fast-track the bill, with many arguing that remaining in the NPT will “bring nothing but losses” to Tehran.

This demand comes just as tension over renewed US attacks on Iran has heightened, and the conflict between the Iran-backed Houthis and Saudi Arabia persists.

Iranian State media, Tasnim News Agency, also reported that the bill had been presented to the parliament’s presiding board.

The NPT is designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy. It is the cornerstone of global efforts to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons.

The NPT demands that states without nuclear weapons agree not to acquire them while those that possess them commit to eventual disarmament.

However, Iranians lawmakers have argued that the current realities necessitate their withdrawal from the treaty.

“Given the circumstances facing the country and the aggression that the enemy has launched against us on two occasions, remaining in the NPT brings us nothing but losses,” an Iranian lawmaker, Haji Deligani, was quoted as having said.

Iran and the NPT

The treaty recognises only five states as nuclear states. These are: the US, Russia, the UK, France, and China.

Iran became a signatory to the treaty in 1974. It did not withdraw despite the crises and sanctions triggered by its undeclared uranium-enrichment facilities at the Natanz Nuclear Facility and the heavy-water reactor in Arak.

It signed the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015 and, before the US withdrawal in 2018, cut its enriched uranium stockpile by 98 per cent to 300kg (660lb). It also capped enrichment at 3.67 per cent, reduced its centrifuges by two-thirds, and agreed to inspection by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

The US has linked its war in Iran to the country’s uranium enrichment and nuclear programme, which President Donald Trump says poses a threat to regional and international security.

But Iran has insisted that its uranium enrichment is only for civilian purposes.

A year after the US withdrew from the JCPOA, Iran raised its uranium enrichment purity to 60 per cent due to the reintroduction of sanctions by the US.

But in February 2026, a day before the US strike that triggered ongoing war in the Middle East, the IAEA disclosed that Iran had agreed to “zero accumulation”, “zero stockpiling” and full verification of its existing stockpile.

Oman, which mediated talks between Tehran and Washington, also said it would dilute existing Iranian stockpiles to natural uranium levels and convert them into fuel.

Hours later, however, the US and Israel struck the country.

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Iran threatens new weapons and targets

Top Iranian officials have also confirmed that the country is considering withdrawing from the NPT.

Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, also said the decision to remain a signatory to the treaty depends largely on US conduct.

“This depends on America’s conduct,” he said.

He told Al Jazeera that Iran’s nuclear doctrine, under which Tehran maintains it is not pursuing nuclear weapons, has not changed.

Meanwhile, Iran’s Revolutionary Guards have also warned the US against renewed attacks on the country.

The IRGC said “the world will be astonished” by new weapons and targets if the United States launches another attack on Iran.

The country has vowed to introduce weapons with new capabilities and strike targets that have not been attacked before.