Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Mohammad-Ali Hosseini said on Monday that the United States, Britain, and France have been violating the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty by facilitating Israel’s nuclear weapons program.

Hosseini made the remarks at the Third Session of the Preparatory Committee of the 2010 NPT Review Conference, which opened in New York on May 4 and runs until May 15.
Following are excerpts of Hosseini's address to the meeting:
Our present world is suffering from important challenges, namely injustice and double-standard policies and conducts. Unfortunately, some certain States, which deem themselves as the guarantors for peace and security and protectors of international treaties, let themselves take illegal measures, disregard their obligations and continue to weaken international bodies which their main task is to serve nations and countries of the world.
40 years ago the international community was informed of one of its significant achievements towards establishing peace and security throughout the world namely the conclusion of NPT as a cornerstone of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime. In spite of the shortcomings specifically its inherent discrimination between haves and have-nots, it was expected that the treaty shall make a fundamental change towards disarmament of nuclear weapons and enhancing prosperity for mankind.
Based on this Treaty, non-nuclear weapon States committed to forgo the nuclear weapon option, and nuclear weapon States undertook to eliminate their nuclear arsenals. Moreover, these two pillars of the NPT complemented by the third pillar namely Article IV on the inalienable right of all parties to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes and promote the nuclear cooperation in this regard.
Today, after four decades, we have to ask ourselves where we stand now. A review of the past decades and the current status of the implementation of the provisions of the treaty could lead us to have a full picture of and a better judgment on the achievements of the international community under this Treaty.
It is regretful that such a review shows a continued unbalanced, discriminatory and double-standard approach in implementing this treaty. The non-compliance of Nuclear Weapon States with their obligations of nuclear disarmament, stipulated in article VI, is still threatening international peace and security. International community has serious concerns regarding U.S., UK and France’s policies and actions on continued existence of thousands of nuclear weapons in the hands of them, vertical and horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons, transfer and commissioning nuclear weapons in the territory of non-nuclear weapon states, lowering threshold of resorting to nuclear weapons, and the risk of using these inhumane weapons against non nuclear weapon states. These facts have seriously questioned the delicate balance envisaged between rights and obligations of haves and have-nots in the Treaty. This situation is more alarming when we note the trend to resort to the threat of use of these brutal weapons as a means to achieve political objectives.
This is a very legitimate question among non-nuclear weapon states that what they have achieved through joining this treaty. How long should they wait to witness the noble goal of eliminating nuclear weapons, as enshrined in the NPT, to come into reality. The international community has the right to be assured that a similar nightmare and human tragedy which were imposed on innocent people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki will never happen again.
In spite of failure of nuclear weapon states to fulfill their obligations under the treaty, the non-nuclear Weapon States, for the sake of mankind and hoping to achieve the lofty objectives of NPT, accepted at 1995 Conference to extend the treaty indefinitely. Thus, the international community gave another chance to nuclear weapon states to demonstrate their goodwill. The 2000 NPT Review Conference was a hope to salvage the treaty which could not longer stand only on its unbalanced and shaky pillars. But what happened afterwards?
The developments after 2000 not only were frustrating but made a great setback to the objectives of the NPT. The adoption of a policy of negation, denial and refusal by certain nuclear weapon states of their unequivocal undertaking to accomplish the elimination of their nuclear arsenals jeopardized the future of the treaty and endangered the prospect of peace and security in the world. Unfortunately after the progress made in the 2000 NPT Review Conference, the U.S. first rejected “the unequivocal undertakings by the nuclear weapon states to accomplish the total elimination of their nuclear arsenals leading to nuclear disarmament,"" and later on, even one of its senior officials claimed that ""obligations under Article VI do not exist"" at all. As a result of such policy, the 2005 NPT Review Conference failed to have any substantive outcome.
The above mentioned developments were not the only reason for growing concerns of non-nuclear weapon states. Many other cases of non-compliance and violation of the provisions of the NPT have seriously challenged its principles and objectives. In this context, I only review some examples of non-compliance cases occurred by U.S., France and UK which are fully reflected in our presented Working Papers, in order that this committee finds concrete solutions to address those concerns and gives tangible recommendations to the 2010 NPT Review Conference. The examples are as follows:
- Persistent refusal by the nuclear weapon states to fulfill 13 practical steps as a part of their unequivocal undertaking, agreed upon by consensus in 2000, to accomplish nuclear disarmament;
- The continuation of nuclear weapon-sharing arrangements with non-nuclear-weapon states in contravention of Article I and II of the NPT, particularly through the deployment of nuclear weapons in the NATO European countries, as recently acknowledged by Germany’s distinguished foreign minister;
- Vertical proliferation of nuclear weapons through development of new types of nuclear weapons and modernization of the old nuclear arsenals;
- Rejection of any commitment to grant NSAs (Negative Security Assurances) to the non-nuclear-weapon states, and even threatening to use nuclear weapons against them;
- Advancing new doctrines to justify the reliance on nuclear weapons, especially by stressing their essential role as an effective tool for achieving security goals and foreign policy objectives, and targeting non-nuclear weapon states parties to the treaty;
- Horizontal proliferation of nuclear weapons through providing nuclear equipment, material and technology to non-parties to the NPT in violation of Article III- Paragraph 2 and jeopardizing the universality of the Treaty;
In this context, continuous nuclear cooperation of United States, UK and France with Zionist regime is a total disregard with the obligations under the Treaty and commitments undertaken in 1995 and 2000, and a source of real concern for international community specially the parties to the Treaty in the Middle East. Zionist regime’s nuclear weapon facilities and arsenals are real threats to all countries of the region and the international peace and security. The defiance of this regime to international calls to accede to the treaty has been the main obstacle in realizing a nuclear weapon free zone in the Middle East.
It is noteworthy that the recent brutal attacks by Zionist regime against its neighbors under the absurd excuses, massacre civilians, including women and children in Gaza by internationally prohibited and devastating weapons, such as those containing phosphor and depleted uranium, and defying any call by international community to stop the bloodshed of the innocent people, all show how serious the threat of such a racist and aggressive regime is. Needless to say how much nuclear weapon in the hand of such a regime could endanger the regional as well as international peace and security that would lead to a catastrophe.
While non-compliance of nuclear weapon states with their nuclear disarmament obligations has frustrated non-nuclear weapon states, developing countries also suffer from other discriminatory and double-standard approach towards implementation of Article IV, aimed at depriving them from exercising their legitimate and inalienable rights. Certain states are constantly violating the provisions of Article IV of the NPT which provides for the international cooperation and transfer of peaceful nuclear technologies to the NPT states parties.
(Source: www.mfa.gov.ir)