'Time to exit': Iran MP says NPT membership failed to protect country’s nuclear sites

A senior Iranian lawmaker has described the country’s membership in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as "meaningless," referring to the treaty's failure to protect the country's nuclear facilities from external aggression.

Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of parliament and spokesperson for the national security and foreign policy commission, made the remarks in a post on X, formerly Twitter, on Friday, hours after the Israeli-American coalition carried out fresh attacks on the nuclear sites.

"The NPT has offered us no advantage whatsoever," Rezaei said. "It has neither protected our country from attack by nuclear powers nor prevented repeated strikes on our nuclear facilities. International documents and agreements have been completely disregarded."

Since the launch of the Israeli-American aggression against the Islamic Republic of Iran in late February, Iranian nuclear sites have been targeted multiple times, while the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has failed to condemn it.

The latest aggression came months after both the Israeli regime and the US carried out extensive and illegal bombings on three of Iran’s key nuclear facilities.

Iranian authorities have denounced the silence of the UN nuclear agency as well as the international community over the breach of international conventions.

Rezaei took particular issue with recent remarks by the IAEA chief, Rafael Grossi, who suggested that an atomic bomb might be the only way to eliminate Iran's nuclear program.

"We have no intention of producing a bomb, and our policy in this regard remains unchanged," Rezaei said. "But when the Director General of the IAEA says that the only way to destroy Iran's nuclear program is through an atomic bomb, this is a provocative and dangerous statement."

The IAEA chief's inflammatory comments have deepened mistrust in international bodies that are supposed to uphold international law and operate independently of external political pressure.

Rezaei pointed to a glaring double standard in the international community's approach to treaty obligations, noting that the US has withdrawn from approximately 60 international organizations and conventions in recent years without facing any repercussions.

"The United States has withdrawn from 60 international organizations and conventions," Rezaei said. "Yet if we were to withdraw from the NPT, the West would likely react with astonishment and opposition."

Rezaei said the moment has come for Iran to reconsider its commitments under the treaty. "It is time to exit," he said.

Iran's consideration of NPT withdrawal comes against the backdrop of an unprovoked and illegal war launched on February 28 with the assassination of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution, Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and some top-ranking military commanders, and has since killed over 1,300 civilians across the country.

Iranian people feel the unprovoked war of aggression – twice in less than a year – is proof that international treaties offer no protection against hostile adversaries.

Pertinently, while Iran is a member of the NPT, Israel has refused to join it or allow inspections of its clandestine nuclear weapons facilities.

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