Iran accuses US of nuclear treaty violations at NPT review conference

NPT Review Conference Opens Amid Rising Nuclear Risks

The 11th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons opened on April 27 at United Nations Headquarters in New York, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres delivering a stark warning that the global nuclear order is deteriorating at an alarming pace. The four-week conference, running through May 22, has quickly become a forum for sharp exchanges among member states over disarmament, enrichment rights, and the treaty’s relevance in an era of emerging technologies.

Guterres Sounds the Alarm

“Global military spending soared to 2.7 trillion dollars last year, thirteen times more than all development aid globally,” Guterres told delegates in his opening address on April 27. “For the first time in decades, the number of nuclear warheads is on the rise. Nuclear testing is back on the table.” The Secretary-General warned that the NPT must evolve to survive the age of artificial intelligence and quantum computing, stressing that until nuclear weapons are eliminated, humanity must never cede control over them to machines. “We need to breathe life into the Treaty once more,” he declared.un

The conference is presided over by Ambassador Do Hung Viet of Vietnam and comes after the two previous review conferences, in 2015 and 2022, failed to produce consensus outcome documents. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons noted that the first week was dominated by “accusations and counter accusations of bad faith” between members, including Iran and the United States.wilpf

Iran Defends Enrichment Rights as US Tensions Flare

In a statement posted to X on Saturday, Iran’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations declared that “legally, there is no restriction on the level of uranium enrichment, so long as it is conducted under the IAEA’s supervision, as was the case with Iran”. The mission accused the United States of 56 years of “clear non-compliance” with its own disarmament obligations under the treaty, calling Washington’s posture “outrageous and hypocritical”. The core dispute over enrichment persists, with the US demanding zero enrichment while Iran maintains its right to enrich uranium for civilian use.aa

The Holy See, in a statement delivered on April 29, warned that reliance on nuclear deterrence “reflects an approach to security that is based more on the acceptance of mutual vulnerability sustained by the threat of force than on law and trust”. Quoting Pope Leo XIV, the Vatican delegation called for “a peace that is disarmed and disarming” and urged that decisions involving nuclear weapons must remain firmly rooted in human responsibility.holyseemission

Diplomatic Friction Beyond the Conference

Adding to the fraught atmosphere, the UN Disarmament Commission opened and then promptly suspended its 2026 substantive session after the United States objected to the agenda, which it characterized as promoting “centralized governance”. The body was unable to adopt its agenda and proceed with work. Separately, the US expressed strong disapproval after Iran was elected as one of 34 vice presidents of the review conference on its opening day.instagram

Observers note that substantive convergence remains elusive, with non-nuclear-weapon states voicing deep frustration at what they see as the failure of nuclear powers to meet their disarmament obligations. As one analysis concluded, the 2026 conference is unfolding “less as a forum for transformative agreements and more as a diagnostic exercise in systemic strain”.eurasiareview