MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 12th July, 2023) NATO countries reaffirmed their resolve not to allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, and urged Tehran to comply with its international obligations, the alliance said in a communique adopted at the Vilnius summit on Tuesday.
"We reiterate our clear determination that Iran must never develop a nuclear weapon. We remain deeply concerned about Iran's escalation of its nuclear programme. We call on Iran to fulfil its legal obligations under its Non-Proliferation Treaty-required safeguards agreement and political commitments regarding nuclear non-proliferation without further delay," NATO members said in the communique.
NATO also said that Iran's compliance with its obligations is critical for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to provide credible assurances about the peaceful nature of the country's nuclear program.
"We also call on Iran to stop all ballistic missile activities inconsistent with UNSCR 2231," the communique added.
The NATO summit is taking place from July 11-12 in Vilnius, with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg chairing the meeting. The summit agenda includes Ukraine's prospects for NATO membership, the strengthening of the alliance's eastern flank and the issue of defense spending.
In 2015, Iran signed the JCPOA with China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States as well as Germany and the European Union. The deal envisaged lifting sanctions against Tehran in exchange for restricting the Iranian nuclear program. Under former US President Donald Trump, the US withdrew from the deal, reimposing sanctions against Iran. Tehran reacted by reducing its obligations under the deal, including those concerning nuclear research, centrifuges and uranium enrichment levels. In December 2021, talks on the resumption of the JCPOA were resumed, but a year later the progress on the deal was largely frozen.
