Iran’s Assembly of Experts, a clerical body, has urged officials to consider leaving the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and reviewing defense doctrine, renewing debate over Tehran’s nuclear posture without announcing a formal policy change.
The assembly issued its appeal Nov. 12, linking a possible NPT exit with a doctrine review and stronger deterrence. It called the proposals “an unavoidable necessity and a public and national demand,” and asked officials to take up the issue with guidance from the Leader. The statement sought a review; it did not announce a decision to leave the treaty or change doctrine.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei said Nov. 2 that withdrawal was being discussed, while Iran remained an NPT member and considered itself bound by its commitments. Supreme National Security Council Secretary Mohsen Rezaei said Nov. 1 that neither the government nor the council had made an official decision to change the nuclear doctrine. Baqaei addressed Iran’s treaty membership, while Rezaei addressed its doctrine. EconoTimes previously reported Rezaei’s statement on the nuclear doctrine.
Euronews reported Nov. 13 that lawmaker Kamran Ghazanfari said MPs were seeking to have parliament consider an NPT withdrawal proposal in a public session. The outlet also reported Ghazanfari’s assessment that Iran’s doctrine had already shifted in practice. Former lawmaker Heshmatollah Falahatpisheh told Euronews the Supreme National Security Council had not agreed to the bill and argued that a nuclear weapon alone would not create deterrence. Rezaei’s statement concerned whether an official decision had been made, while Ghazanfari described a change in practice.
Article X sets the process for leaving the treaty, so the assembly’s appeal does not itself begin a withdrawal. A state seeking to exit must give three months’ notice to the other NPT parties and the U.N. Security Council. It must explain extraordinary events related to the treaty that it considers to have jeopardized its supreme interests. Article X requires Iran to notify the other treaty parties and the U.N. Security Council, but does not require their approval.
