Alwaght- Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s Foreign Minister, warned on Saturday the US reliance on nuclear arms and violations of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) brings man kind to the verge of destruction.
"The US Nuclear Posture Review reflects greater reliance on nukes in violation of the #NPT, bringing humankind closer to annihilation. No wonder the Doomsday Clock is at its most dangerous since 1953. Trump’s obduracy in killing the #JCPOA stems from the same dangerous imprudence," Zarif tweeted on Saturday.
A Trump administration Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) released Friday showed a greater willingness to use nuclear weapons first and calls for development of new nuclear weapons and capabilities to counter rivals such as Russia and China.
Washington’s new NPR states that the US would consider such an attack in the case of “extreme circumstances”, these could include “significant non-nuclear strategic attacks”. This raises the prospect that nuclear weapons could be deployed in response to a severe cyber-attack, a large terror attack such as those staged on 11 September 2001, or another strategic threat.
The NPR also recommends a hawkish approach to cooperation with Russia over nuclear proliferation, and further calls for the US to tackle “an unprecedented range and mix of threats” posed by foreign powers including Russia, China, North Korea and Iran.
In 1970, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, or NPT, was ratified, and it was extended indefinitely in 1995. Under the treaty, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council — China, France, Russia, the United States and the United Kingdom — were acknowledged as nuclear powers, and other countries that joine