Iranian lawmakers push NPT exit as Motaki says time has come

Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said 10 proposals to withdraw from the NPT had been registered and were under consideration, according to the Fars news agency. Lawmaker Mahmoud Nabavian called for withdrawal and a change in nuclear doctrine, while Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari described a review of the doctrine as a “national demand,” state broadcaster IRIB reported. Lawmaker Motaki said the decision on next steps, including moving toward a nuclear weapon, rests with the Supreme Command, and claimed that all 290 lawmakers would vote to withdraw if the leadership did not object or agreed, IRIB reported.

Kouthari, a member of the same committee, said changing the nuclear doctrine and withdrawing from the NPT must follow the system’s overarching policies and the Supreme Leader’s decision, Khabar Online reported; he added that he is not optimistic about the US or those coming to negotiate. A former lawmaker warned that raising NPT withdrawal or building an atomic bomb would unsettle China and Russia’s support for Iran, and said regulatory and security bodies should speak with those making such statements, according to Khabar Online.

Al Jazeera reported that Qatari mediators returned to Tehran this week for peace talks with the US. Trump said the war would be “wrapped up soon” and repeated that Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon,” while Tehran has demanded an end to the US naval blockade of its ports in and around the Strait of Hormuz, the lifting of sanctions, and guarantees against further attacks before new nuclear talks. The report noted that withdrawal from the NPT would not automatically mean Iran would build a nuclear weapon, and that President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Iran’s policies align with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s religious edict against weapons of mass destruction.