Powerful Iranian Clerical Body Declares Exiting Nuclear Treaty A 'National Demand'

Iran is continuing to signal that it could at any point formally withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). If so this would certainly trigger alarm in the West, and might result in Israel launching a swift attack to 'prevent' the Islamic Republic from obtaining nukes.

Iran's Assembly of Experts - which is the nation's top clerical and advisory body connected to the Supreme Leader - has stated that withdrawing from the international treaty on nuclear weapons has become "an unavoidable necessity" and "a public and national demand," according to national broadcaster IRIB.

"In a statement issued on Thursday, the clerical body said the enemy’s repeated threats, particularly against Iran’s nuclear knowledge, showed there was no hope in the international bodies responsible for the issue," Al Jazeera writes of the statement.

"It said revising Iran’s defence doctrine, withdrawing from the NPT and creating the necessary deterrence had become a public and national demand, and expressed hope that officials would address it under the Supreme Leader’s guidance," the report adds.

"The assembly stopped short of directly calling for withdrawal, framing the issue as one that should be examined," Al Jazeera continues. 

The Assembly of Experts statement further notes that any final decision would rest with the supreme leader.

According some recent commentary London-based and Saudi-supported outlet Iran International, "Leaving the NPT during wartime would effectively mean pursuing a nuclear weapon, something Iran does not intend to do," Iranian diplomat Mohammad Mehdi Shahriari has described. "Withdrawal would only increase costs and further escalate the situation, he added."

But Iranian officials merely threatening pullout from the NPT remains a significant piece of leverage, at a moment when Washington seems 'stuck' in the Iran conflict and Hormuz crisis, and without an exit strategy.

A year ago, prior to Trump launching Operation Epic Fury, an adopted IAEA resolution charged that was Iran in breach of its obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which Tehran is a formal signatory to.

Iran has frequently pointed out the obvious double standard in all of this- that Israel itself is armed with nukes and is not a signatory to the NPT.

This fact has long been an 'open secret' in Washington and among world leaders. But if the US government were to officially recognize Israel as a nuclear-armed power, it could trigger legal repercussions which would impact foreign aid to Israel.