The answer isn’t black and white. It depends on whom you ask – and how deftly you define “violation.” But in essence, Iran is following the letter but not always the spirit of the NPT.
Iran claims it is in complete compliance with its NPT obligations, including declaring all its nuclear material and allowing inspectors to monitor its facilities. It advocates against nuclear weapons and notes that despite thousands of hours of inspections in Iran, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – the United Nations body that monitors NPT compliance – has found no evidence of a bomb program.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad stated Monday at the NPT Review Conference that nuclear weapons were “a fire against humanity.”
Also Monday, IAEA chief Yukiya Amano verified that Iran has not been diverting its declared nuclear material to a weapons program. But he said that due to a lack of cooperation from Iran, the IAEA “remains unable to confirm that all nuclear material is in peaceful activities” – meaning there may be some undeclared material in play.
Mr. Amano said Iran had to clarify doubts about “activities with a possible military dimension.”
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the “onus” was on Iran.
Iran’s prickly history with the IAEA
Iran and the IAEA have had a prickly relationship since 2002, when a dissident group – believed to have been fed information from Israeli intelligence – revealed that Iran had be… >>>
