Nuclear Friction

Despite Iran's full compliance with the principles and norms of the NPT, the attacks by the US and Israel on Iran have put the nuclear non-proliferation regime in crisis

- Iraj Elahi

THE Israeli regime carried out attacks against nuclear facilities in Iran—the Natanz Nuclear Facility (NNF) and the Isfahan Nuclear Technology Center (INTC)—on June 13, 2025, and the US, in support of this regime, attacked the Fordow Uranium Enrichment Plant, the NNF and the INTC nuclear facilities on June 22.

The attack by the Zionist regime and the US on Iran’s peaceful nuclear facilities not only caused damage to Iran, but also delivered a significant blow to the nuclear non- proliferation regime.

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was established with the aim of gradually disarming states that possess nuclear weapons. However, in practice, some of these states have misused the regime as a tool to prevent others from accessing peaceful nuclear energy. Despite their explicit legal commitments, nuclear weapon states continue to expand—for political and military reasons; to qualitatively upgrade and modernise their nuclear arsenals; develop new generations of nuclear weapons; expand the role of nuclear weapons in their security doctrines; engage in a new nuclear arms race; and, establish new nuclear alliances and sharing arrangements in different geographical regions under concepts such as “nuclear sharing” and “nuclear umbrella”. These actions are in violation of the disarmament and nonproliferation obligations under Article VI of the NPT.