Several Iranian lawmakers have called for the country to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), even as United States President Donald Trump says the war on Iran will be “wrapped up” soon. The demands come as Qatari mediators returned to Tehran this week to try to revive peace talks with Washington.
The war began on February 28 with attacks by the US and Israel. Before those strikes, Washington and Tehran had been holding indirect nuclear negotiations mediated by Oman, and Iran had repeatedly said it had no plans to develop nuclear weapons.
Lawmakers press for withdrawal from the NPT
On Saturday, Iranian legislator Mahmoud Nabavian called on Iran to withdraw from the NPT and change its nuclear doctrine. He wrote on X that the country had paid heavy costs from war and sanctions, and said it was time for the Iranian nation to take that step.
Also read: Qatari mediators arrive in Tehran to revive US-Iran ceasefire · Qatari mediators in Tehran as US-backed effort to ease tensions
In parliament, Ebrahim Rezaei, a member of the National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, said 10 proposals to withdraw from the treaty had been registered and that withdrawal was under consideration, according to Iranian media. Separately, Mohammad Javad Haj Ali Akbari, an Iranian politician and scholar, called for a review of the nuclear doctrine during a Friday sermon. He described this as a “national demand” and said it was not a hasty reaction but reflected what he called US failures to honour commitments.
Iranian state media also reported that the hardline Paydari Front, which is aligned with conservative groups, had called on parliament on October 24 to withdraw from the treaty. Iranian leaders have not yet responded directly to the lawmakers’ demands. In June, the foreign ministry said lawmakers were preparing a bill on withdrawal, and spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said the government would coordinate with parliament at later stages.
Officials have noted that withdrawal would not automatically mean Iran builds a nuclear weapon. The government’s official position on not seeking nuclear arms remains unchanged, and President Masoud Pezeshkian has said Tehran’s policies align with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s longstanding religious edict against weapons of mass destruction.
Trump’s stance and Tehran’s conditions for talks
Trump has repeatedly said Iran “cannot have a nuclear weapon”, calling this a non-negotiable condition for ending the conflict and securing a permanent deal. Speaking in Daytona Beach, Florida, late on Friday, he said: “We are never going to give them a nuclear weapon.” He also denied that the US had started the war, saying it was one “they started many years ago”.
In a separate interview with a Kansas City radio station on Friday, Trump said the war was “going to get wrapped up soon” but that Washington needed “a guarantee there’ll never be a nuclear weapon”.
Iran has said it will not talk again about its nuclear programme until certain conditions are met. These include:
- An end to the US naval blockade of its ports in and around the Strait of Hormuz
- The lifting of sanctions
- A guarantee that there will be no more attacks
Qatari mediators, working in coordination with US officials, returned to Tehran on Friday in an apparent effort to revive a June ceasefire that quickly collapsed over control of the Strait of Hormuz. Days earlier, they had delivered a letter from US Vice President JD Vance to Iran’s security chief, Mohsen Rezaei, proposing renewed peace talks, according to US media. Iranian sources told reporters that Tehran had received a letter from Washington on ending the war, and that the Qatari delegation had come to collect Iran’s response.
Those sources said a meeting on a new diplomatic path could be held within a week, either in Doha or Istanbul. Pakistan’s military spokesman, Lieutenant General Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, told a news agency that his country was “cautiously optimistic” about mediation between Iran and the US. He said there were positive signs of de-escalation.
Meanwhile, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) issued a warning to Trump. Its spokesperson, Mohammad Akraminia, wrote on X on Saturday that the armed forces were “closely monitoring America’s movements in the region”. He said Iran would retaliate significantly if the US president “resorts to another adventure in the region” together with Israel.
The NPT and the dispute over IAEA access
The NPT is an international treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and promoting the peaceful use of nuclear energy. It was opened for signature on July 1, 1968, and entered into force on March 5, 1970. Under the treaty, nuclear-weapon states agree not to transfer weapons or help others develop them, while non-nuclear-weapon states agree not to seek or acquire them.
The treaty counts the US, the UK, France, China and Russia as nuclear-weapon states, and 191 countries are now part of it. India, Pakistan, Israel and South Sudan are not signatories. One article allows a country to withdraw with three months’ notice if it decides that “extraordinary events” have jeopardised its supreme interests. Iran signed the treaty in July 1968 and ratified it in February 1970 as a non-nuclear-weapon state.
Iran has consistently said its nuclear programme is for peaceful purposes and research only. Last month, an IAEA resolution expressed “grave concerns” about Iran’s “continued noncompliance” with its treaty obligations. Iranian media have accused the IAEA of becoming politically aligned with the US and Israel, and Iran has condemned the resolution as baseless and politically motivated.
The IAEA has not had access to key Iranian nuclear facilities since the US and Israel launched a 12-day war against the country in June 2025. That conflict included attacks on the Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan sites. For now, analysts say the war has pushed diplomacy back to square one, and that any new talks will require significant effort.
