Tehran must not withdraw from the global nuclear non-proliferation pact, Macron says
French President Emmanuel Macron has warned that the international community must act to prevent Iran from leaving the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which prohibits it from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Some Iranian politicians have threatened to withdraw from the NPT in retaliation for recent US and Israeli strikes on the country’s nuclear facilities.
While Macron argued the strikes were “genuinely effective,” he cautioned that the “worst-case scenario” would be Iran quitting the landmark arms control treaty.
“The worst would be that the consequence of this is Iran’s exit from the Non-Proliferation Treaty and therefore, ultimately, a drift and a collective weakening,” Macron told reporters after an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday.
“Our hope is for a genuine convergence of views, as the objective … is to prevent the resumption of [Iran’s] proliferation activities,” he added.
Macron said France plans to hold consultations with the other four permanent members of the UN Security Council – the US, UK, Russia, and China – in the coming days. He also noted that he had briefed US President Donald Trump on France’s recent communications with Tehran, including “in the last few hours.”
Rafael Grossi, head of the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said it would be “very regrettable” if Iran were to withdraw from the treaty.
Abbas Golroo, chairman of the Iranian parliament’s foreign relations committee, stated on June 22 – the day the US struck three nuclear facilities, including the uranium enrichment site at Fordow – that Iran has “the legal right to withdraw from the treaty.” He later added that lawmakers would review the country’s continued participation in the NPT.
Earlier this week, the Iranian parliament voted to suspend cooperation with the IAEA after Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei accused the agency of failing to properly condemn the strikes. Iran, which denies pursuing a military nuclear program, maintains that it has the right to enrich uranium for civilian purposes.
