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Straits Times

Iran says Parliament is preparing Bill to leave nuclear non-proliferation treaty

Iran's state media said that no decision on quitting the treaty had yet been made by Parliament. PHOTO: REUTERS DUBAI – Iranian parliamentarians are preparing a Bill that could push Tehran towards exiting the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT), the Foreign Ministry said on June 16, while reiterating Tehran's official stance against developing nuclear weapons. 'In the light of recent developments, we will take an appropriate decision. Government has to enforce Parliament Bills, but such a proposal is just being prepared, and we will coordinate in the later stages with Parliament,' the ministry's spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei said, when asked at a press conference about Tehran potentially leaving the NPT. The NPT, which Iran ratified in 1970, guarantees countries the right to pursue civilian nuclear power in return for requiring them to forgo atomic weapons and cooperate with the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Israel began bombing Iran last week, saying Tehran was on the verge of building a nuclear bomb. Iran has always said its nuclear programme is peaceful, although the IAEA declared last week that Tehran was in violation of its NPT obligations. Iran's President Masoud Pezeshkian reiterated on June 16 that nuclear weapons were against a religious edict by the country's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The Iranian state media said no decision on quitting the NPT had yet been made by Parliament, while a parliamentarian said the proposal was at the initial stages of the legal process. Mr Baghaei said developments such as Israel's attack 'naturally affect the strategic decisions of the state', noting that Israel's attack had followed the IAEA resolution, which he suggested was to blame. 'Those voting for the resolution prepared the ground for the attack,' Mr Baghaei said. Israel, which never joined the NPT, is widely assumed by regional governments to possess nuclear weapons, although it does not confirm or deny this. 'The Zionist regime is the only possessor of weapons of mass destruction in the region,' Mr Baghaei said. REUTERS Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.