Iran concerned about US, France noncompliance with nuclear commitments

Addressing the 54th Session of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) in the Austrian capital, he reaffirmed long-standing and principled position of the Islamic Republic of Iran on the need to completely eliminate nuclear weapons, saying that unfortunately, after a lapse of over two decades since the ratification of the treaty, achieving its main goal to end development of nuclear weapons has become more unattainable.

He deplored that the international community has recently witnessed a destructive approach to nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation treaties by some nuclear states, adding that the modernization and testing of nuclear weapons threaten NPT as a cornerstone of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime as well as the international peace and security.

He further noted that a recent test of a French missile, which is capable of carrying multiple nuclear warheads, as well as nuclear test explosions proposed by the US, are in grave violation of international nuclear nonproliferation treaties.

The unilateral and illegal withdrawal from many international agreements, including the Open Skies Treaty, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty and JCPOA has become a policy for the US that is not only against multilateralism but also undermines international peace and security, he said.

He also expressed concern over US Senate approval of a $10 million budget for such a nuclear test, urging the US and France to honor their commitments in line with protecting the objectives of disarmament treaties.

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