VIENNA, June 3. /TASS/. The appeal of nuclear arms for those countries that do not possess them is increasing due to strategic tensions worldwide and this situation must be treated realistically, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said in an interview with Der Standard.

According to him, countries simply want to protect themselves, even though he rejects this fact in the capacity as a keeper of the Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).

The NPT was signed in 1968 and came into effect in 1970. It legalized the nuclear arsenals of its signatories, namely the United Kingdom, China, the former Soviet Union, the United States, and France, and their status of nuclear powers. These countries committed themselves not to transfer "nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices" and "not in any way to assist, encourage, or induce" a non-nuclear weapon state (NNWS) to acquire nuclear weapons. The treaty, however, infringes on their rights to carry out research or generate and use nuclear energy in peaceful purposes. In 1995, the treaty, which originally was signed for a 25-year term, was extended indefinitely. Today, the treaty has 191 signatories. North Korea withdrew from it in 2003, while India, Pakistan, and Israel have never joined it.