The right to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes in all its aspects is an inalienable right, Iran affirms at the 2026 review conference of the parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in New York.

The Iranian government noted on Wednesday that “this is part of man’s scientific and technological achievements, and is a common heritage” and accused the United States of undermining its rights to “peaceful” nuclear access. 

“It is neither conditional nor can be taken away, disrupted, or suspended. Contrary to the views expressed by the U.S., this inherent right includes, among others, the right to develop a full national nuclear fuel cycle, including for enrichment and reprocessing,” said Reza Najafi, Iran’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations. 

Mr Najafi pointed out that the 2000 NPT RevCon “consensually” confirmed that “each country’s choices and decisions in the field of peaceful uses of nuclear energy should be respected without jeopardising its policies or international cooperation agreements and arrangements for peaceful uses of nuclear energy and its fuel-cycle policies”. 

Additionally, the Iranian envoy explained that “there is no provision whatsoever in any international legally binding instrument to prohibit or restrict this right” and insisted that exercising “this right is vital due to ever-growing applications of nuclear energy and its prominent place in the sustainable development of societies”.

“Unsatisfied by numerous sabotages in nuclear facilities and the assassination of universities’ scientists by the Israeli regime, the US joined that regime and conducted several cyberattacks against Iran’s nuclear facilities. The U.S., a depository of the Treaty, went even far beyond this, and publicly and explicitly forced Iran to fully abandon the exercise of this inherent right. 

“And, when this unlawful demand was categorically rejected, the U.S., along with a nuclear-armed non-party to the NPT, has waged two wars of aggression and massively targeted a state party’s safeguarded peaceful nuclear facilities. Despite all such attempts, Iran is fully determined to continue exercising this inherent right in all its aspects in conformity with its non-proliferation obligation,” stated the Iranian official.

The Iranian government, therefore, proposed the confirmation “that the inherent right reaffirmed under the treaty’s Article IV includes, among others, a right to develop a full national nuclear fuel cycle, including for enrichment and reprocessing”, “that any and all policies and practices that restrict or hamper, including in the form of unilateral coercive measures or in the context of exclusive and unilaterally enforced export control mechanisms, fully or partially, the exercise of the rights reaffirmed under the treaty’s Article IV, are serious material breaches of the aforesaid rights and explicit legal obligations of states parties under the treaty, and flagrantly violate its object and purpose, and thus must stop fully and immediately”. 

Iran also reaffirmed that “safeguards must be applied in a manner that does not prejudice, in any way whatsoever, the exercise of the inalienable rights reaffirmed under the treaty’s Article IV, including in particular the inherent right to develop a full national nuclear fuel cycle” and that “safeguards must also seriously avoid hampering the economic or technological development of the parties or international cooperation in the field of peaceful nuclear activities”. 

“Reaffirm explicitly the existing norms of international law on inviolability of safeguarded nuclear facilities, according to which any armed attack on safeguarded nuclear facilities is absolutely prohibited, is a serious material breach of international law, constitutes an act of aggression, and entails the international responsibility of the aggressor. 

“Proclaim firmly that any such attack seriously undermines the very objects and purposes of the NPT and the IAEA Statute, gravely endangers the IAEA’s safeguards system, and seriously impedes the exercise of the inalienable rights reaffirmed under the Treaty’s Article IV. 

“Condemn, in the strongest terms, the unlawful armed attacks of the US and the Israeli regime against peaceful safeguarded nuclear facilities of Iran. Call for facilitating and strengthening international cooperation and technical assistance to developing countries in their efforts to exercise the rights reaffirmed under the Treaty’s Article IV. Finally, Iran will work constructively towards a balanced, concrete substantive outcome,” the Iranian government recommended.