A month-long United Nations gathering focused on examining the global nuclear nonproliferation agreement concluded Friday without reaching consensus, as disputes between the United States and Iran over Tehran’s atomic activities derailed negotiations.
The conference chair, Vietnam’s U.N. Ambassador Do Hung Viet, declared that the 191 nations party to the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty could not agree on even a diluted concluding statement. He declined to identify which nations prevented consensus.
This marks the third consecutive unsuccessful review of the NPT, widely regarded as the foundation of worldwide efforts to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation and promote disarmament. During the previous treaty assessment in August 2022, Russia prevented consensus on a concluding document due to its February 2022 Ukraine invasion and mentions of Moscow’s control over the Zaporizhzhia nuclear facility, Europe’s largest.
Disputes regarding Tehran’s atomic activities intensified before the Iran war, which commenced with U.S. and Israeli military strikes on Feb. 28. President Donald Trump has stated the conflict aimed to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capability. Iran has processed uranium to levels approaching weapons-grade purity but maintains its program serves only peaceful purposes.
The U.S. and Iran have confronted each other since the review conference began on April 27. The U.S. has charged Iran with displaying “contempt” for its treaty obligations, while Iran has claimed U.S. and Israeli attacks on its atomic installations breached international law.
Iran participates in the NPT, which mandates nations allow the U.N. nuclear oversight body to inspect all atomic facilities. However, Iran has denied International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors entry to nuclear locations bombed by the U.S. last June.
During closing remarks, the United States labeled Iran a “prolific treaty violator” and accused it of “shirking accountability for its grotesque violations” throughout the conference. Iran charged the U.S. and its partners with waging a “relentless campaign” to justify their “unlawful attacks” on the nation and its nuclear infrastructure.
Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Washington-based Arms Control Association, said the conference “showed that rhetorical support for the NPT is strong, but the foundations of the NPT are cracking due to inaction, inattention, and intransigence on the part of the major powers.”
“Much more enlightened, engaged, and pragmatic leadership and diplomacy will be needed to guard against the growing risks of an unconstrained nuclear buildup, threats to resume nuclear testing, and the risk of a nuclear-armed Iran,” Kimball said.
Britain’s Rebecca Johnson, founding executive director of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy, delivered sharp criticism of both the U.S. and Russia, the world’s two largest nuclear powers, which she said “double down on nuclear threats, blame others and try to undermine or ignore the NPT’s nuclear disarmament commitments and related agreements.”
