TEHRAN, March 30. /TASS/. Iran’s participation in the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) is no longer justified following US and Israeli aggression; Tehran should withdraw from it, and the majority of lawmakers support this view, parliament member Alaeddin Boroujerdi said.
"Given the current circumstances, Iran’s membership in the NPT no longer makes sense, and it appears that the prevailing opinion among members of parliament is precisely this: after these events, there is no reason to accept such restrictions (under the NPT - TASS). We are not seeking to build a nuclear bomb, but one cannot simultaneously play by the rules and be subjected to bombing; consequently, the time has come to withdraw from the NPT," the SNN TV channel quoted him as saying.
Iran began developing its nuclear program in the 1950s during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, with support from the US. In 1958, the country became a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); in 1968, Tehran signed the NPT and ratified it in 1970. After the overthrow of the Shah’s regime in 1979 and the proclamation of the Islamic Republic, the nuclear program was suspended until the authorities resumed developing nuclear technology in the late 1980s. Since 2003, a fatwa (religious ruling) issued by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been in effect in Iran, prohibiting the development of nuclear weapons.