"Hypocritical behaviour": Iran says US not complying with nuclear non-proliferation treaty

New York: Iran's mission to the United Nations in New York on Saturday (local time) sharply criticised the United States over nuclear weapons policy, accusing Washington of "hypocritical behaviour" and "non-compliance" of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

In a post on X, the Iranian mission said, "Extremely Shameful! For 56 years, the US--possessor of thousands of nuclear warheads and the No. 1 proliferator of such weapons--has been in clear non-compliance with its nuclear non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament obligations under Articles I and VI of the NPT."

The mission added, "The US should not be given any cover for its outrageous and hypocritical behaviour."


Iran also defended its uranium enrichment activities, arguing that they were lawful under international oversight mechanisms.


"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 said in the X post.

Under the NPT, non-nuclear-weapon States parties have committed themselves not to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices while nuclear-weapon States parties have committed not to in any way assist, encourage or induce any non-nuclear-weapon State party to manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.

Nuclear-weapon States parties under the Treaty are defined as those that manufactured and exploded a nuclear weapon or other nuclear explosive device before 1 January 1967. There are five nuclear-weapon States parties to the Treaty.

Meanwhile, Iran submitted its latest proposal aimed at advancing negotiations to end the ongoing West Asia conflict with the US, in response to recent amendments introduced by Washington to a draft plan aimed at ending the conflict.

According to Axios, citing sources familiar with the matter, the latest proposal submitted by Iran through Pakistan, which is acting as a mediator in the talks, comes after US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff sent a list of amendments on Monday, focusing on reintroducing the nuclear issue into the draft framework.

According to Iranian state media, IRNA, Tehran submitted its latest proposal aimed at advancing negotiations to end the ongoing West Asia conflict with the US.

Tehran handed over the text of its new proposal to Pakistan on Thursday evening, though details of Tehran's counter-terms have not been fully disclosed.

Axios, citing the source, further reported that one of the proposed US amendments calls for Iran to commit that it will not transfer any enriched uranium from its bombed nuclear facilities or restart any nuclear-related activities at those sites while negotiations are ongoing.

Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump on Friday expressed dissatisfaction with Iran's latest proposal aimed at ending the ongoing conflict, while also casting doubt on whether a final agreement can be reached.

Speaking to reporters at the White House, Trump said, "They want to make a deal, but I'm not satisfied with it, so we'll see what happens."

US President Donald Trump also justified the military action taken against Iran's nuclear programme. He said it was necessary to save the Gulf region, including Israel, from the threat posed if Tehran had been successful in having a nuclear weapon.