Iran Says US, France Nuclear Tests ‘Destructive’ Violation of Nonproliferation Treaties

By Staff, Agencies

Iran's permanent representative to the Vienna-based international organizations Kazem Gharibabadi said 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.

Addressing the 54th Session of the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization [CTBTO] in the Austrian capital on Thursday, Gharibabadi first reiterated Iran’s “long-standing and principled position on the need for the total elimination of all nuclear weapons,” reaffirming Iran’s “strong support for the objectives of the CTBT [Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty].”

The envoy singled out France’s launching of a new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles that can be fitted with several nuclear nosecones, from a submarine on June 12, saying, "Unfortunately the international community recently witnessed a destructive approach towards nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation Treaties by some of Nuclear States."

He also pointed to reports that senior US officials have discussed the possibility of conducting nuclear-test explosions, and the fact that the US Senate had approved $10 million in budget towards preparation for the tests.

Gharibabadi noted that modernization and testing of nuclear weapons undermine the most important of the treaties, namely the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and “threaten the international peace and security.”

The official also referred to the United States’ “illegal and unilateral” withdrawal from many agreements that are supposed to bolster international peace and security as other instances of Washington’s intransigence.

"Unilateral and illegal withdrawal from many international agreements ... has become a policy practice for the United States that is contrary to multilateralism and undermines the international peace and security," Iran's envoy said.