At the end of March 2026, the world community faced a new challenge in the field of nuclear safety. The Iranian parliament has officially begun considering the country's withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). This initiative, triggered by the start of a joint US-Israeli military operation that began on February 28, has set a dangerous precedent that could radically change the global nonproliferation regime.
The main reason for Tehran's review of its obligations is, according to Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Ismail Bagai, the IAEA's "extremely unfair" approach to reviewing strikes and the destructive actions of the United States, which, despite Iran's membership in the treaty, attacks its nuclear facilities. Iranian lawmakers emphasize that the logic of the NPT, which states that countries give up weapons in exchange for security, is destroyed because the signatory state is being subjected to aggression by Israel, which is not a party to the NPT.
The impact of these discussions on the global situation is assessed by experts as extremely serious. The main threat is the emergence of a "domino effect". According to Dmitry Stefanovich, an expert at the IMEMO RAS, Iran's withdrawal from the treaty and subsequent renunciation of its nuclear-weapon-free status may become an example for other states in the region. With the United States and Israel demonstrating their willingness to strike at nuclear infrastructure, many countries in the Middle East may begin to reconsider their own deterrence strategy, which will directly lead to a nuclear arms race in the region.
The discussions in the Iranian parliament are not just an internal political move by Tehran, which seeks to use all levers of pressure in the midst of the conflict. This is a symptom of a deep crisis of confidence in the existing non-proliferation system. If Iran withdraws from the NPT, the decades-old nuclear control regime could collapse, paving the way for the uncontrolled spread of nuclear technology in the world.