United Nations — The United States and Iran Clashes over Tehran’s nuclear program As a review of the treaty aimed at preventing the spread of atomic weapons begins Monday at the United Nations, a standoff that is almost certain to be repeated during the month-long meeting.
The issue at hand was the election of Iran as one of 34 vice-presidents of the conference, where the 191 member states of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty are reviewing its implementation as they have done every five years since it entered into force in 1970. Iran was a candidate for what was called the Non-Aligned Movement, which consists of 121 mainly developing countries.
The tensions are over Tehran’s nuclear programme Sanctions escalated ahead of the war on Iran, with President Donald Trump vowing to ensure the country was unable to create a nuclear weapon. Iran has enriched uranium to levels close to weapons-grade, but Tehran insists that its program is intended for civilian purposes only.
The meeting started as Iran has offered to reopen the Strait of Hormuz If the United States lifts its blockade on Iranian shipping and ends the war, while delaying talks on the nuclear program.
Iran is a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which requires the country to cooperate with the United Nations nuclear agency. But Iran did not hand over inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency Access to nuclear sites That was it Bombed by the United States Last June.
Christopher Yu, US Assistant Secretary of State for Arms Control and Nonproliferation, said that while there may be different views on Iran’s ultimate intentions and how to handle its program, Iran has shown “contempt” for its obligations under the treaty.
“Rather than choosing to use this review conference to defend the integrity of the NPT and hold Iran accountable, we are electing Iran as vice president,” Yeo said. He added: “It is shameful and embarrassing for the credibility of this conference.”
The United States was supported by Australia and the United Arab Emirates. The United Kingdom, France and Germany — parties to the 2015 nuclear deal to limit Iran’s nuclear program that Trump withdrew the United States from in 2018 — also expressed “concern.”
Iran’s ambassador to the United Nations in Vienna, Reza Najafi, described the American allegations as “unfounded and politically motivated,” declaring his opposition to the United States as vice-chairman of the review conference.
He said that the United States is the only country that has used nuclear weapons and accused it of expanding its nuclear arsenal in violation of the treaty and obstructing progress towards a nuclear-free Middle East by supporting Israel.
Equally worrying, Najafi said, were the attacks launched by the United States and Israel twice in less than a year on Iran’s “peaceful nuclear facilities,” which he described as “a serious violation of international law and a direct assault on the integrity of the global nuclear non-proliferation regime.”
Russian Ambassador-at-Large Andrei Belousov, head of Russia’s delegation to the conference, objected to targeting Iran, and expressed his hope that the criticism and “politicization” that began from day one would not affect the result, which he expressed his hope for success.
Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi also met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, Russia’s official TASS news agency reported. Russia has broadly stayed out of the recent conflict even as it has been floated as a possibility to acquire Iranian highly enriched uranium.
At the last treaty review conference in August 2022, which was postponed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Russia blocked agreement on a final document on its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine and references to Moscow’s occupation of the Zaporozhye nuclear plant and bombing of Europe’s largest nuclear power facility.
At the opening session on Monday, UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged the parties to the treaty to “stand together and protect humanity from the grave threat of nuclear annihilation.”
He said that for the first time in decades, the number of nuclear warheads is on the rise, and nuclear testing is on the table. He added that treaty obligations had not been met for a long time.
He urged all countries to recommit to disarmament and non-proliferation, and in the new technological era of artificial intelligence and quantum computing “to ensure that until nuclear weapons are eliminated, humanity will never relinquish control over their use.”
Under the treaty, the five original nuclear powers – the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France – agreed to negotiate to one day eliminate their arsenals, and countries without nuclear weapons promised not to acquire them in exchange for a guaranteed ability to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.