The United States and Iran clash over Tehran’s nuclear program as a UN meeting begins to review the treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. This confrontation is expected to recur during this month-long meeting.
The issue at hand is the election of Iran as one of the 34 vice-presidents of the conference, where the 191 treaty member states examine its implementation, as they do every five years since it came into effect in 1970.
Iran was a candidate of the “non-aligned movement,” which includes 121 mainly developing countries.
Tensions around Iran’s nuclear program escalated before the war in Iran, with President Donald Trump pledging to prevent the country from obtaining nuclear weapons.
Iran has enriched uranium to a level close to what is needed for making nuclear weapons, but Tehran insists its program is solely for civilian purposes.
The meeting began as Iran proposed reopening the Strait of Hormuz if the US lifted its blockade of Iranian shipping and ended the war, while postponing talks on the nuclear program.
Iran is a signatory to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which requires cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). However, Iran denied access to IAEA inspectors to nuclear sites bombed by the US last June.
Christopher Yeaw, US Deputy Secretary of State for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, stated that despite potential differences in opinions about Iran’s ultimate intentions and how to manage its program, Iran has shown “contempt” for its treaty commitments.
Instead of using this review conference to uphold the NPT’s integrity and hold Iran accountable, we see Iran as vice president, lamented Mr. Yeaw. It is more than shameful and undermines the conference’s credibility.
The United States has received support from Australia and the United Arab Emirates. The UK, France, and Germany – signatories of the 2015 nuclear agreement to limit Iran’s nuclear program, which the US withdrew from in 2018 – have also expressed their “concern.”
Iran’s Ambassador to the UN in Vienna, Reza Najafi, called American allegations “baseless and politically motivated,” opposing the US’s presence as vice president of the review conference.
He accused the US of being the only country to use nuclear weapons and of increasing its nuclear arsenal in violation of the treaty, hindering progress towards a Middle East free of nuclear weapons by supporting Israel.
Mr. Najafi cited the US and Israel’s attacks twice within a year on Iranian nuclear facilities as a “serious violation of international law and a direct threat to the integrity of the global non-proliferation regime,” equally alarming.
Russia’s Deputy Ambassador, Andrei Belousov, heading the Russian delegation to the conference, regretted Iran being targeted and hoped that criticisms and the “politicization” from the first day would not affect the conference’s outcome, which he hopes will be positive.
Iran’s Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, as reported by the Russian news agency TASS. Russia has mainly stayed out of the current conflict, although the possibility of taking control of highly enriched Iranian uranium was discussed.
“Russia blocks the agreement at the last review”
At the prior treaty review meeting in August 2022 (delayed a year due to COVID-19), Russia blocked the final document agreement because of its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, mentioning Moscow’s occupation of the Zaporijia nuclear plant and bombings at Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
During the opening session on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged treaty member states to “unite and preserve humanity from the serious threat of nuclear annihilation.”
For the first time in decades, he said, the number of nuclear warheads is increasing, and nuclear tests are being considered. He added that the pact’s commitments have not been upheld for too long.
He called on all countries to reaffirm their commitment to disarmament and non-proliferation, and in the age of new technologies like artificial intelligence and quantum computing, to “ensure that as long as nuclear weapons exist, humanity never loses control over their use.”
Under the treaty, the five original nuclear powers – the US, China, Russia, UK, and France – committed to negotiate the phased elimination of their arsenals, while non-nuclear states promised not to acquire them in exchange for the guarantee of developing nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Edith M. Lederer, The Associated Press
