Iran’s Assembly of Experts has called on the country’s leadership to consider withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or NPT. The statement is a political demand from an influential religious body, not a decision already adopted by the state.
The call was issued Nov. 12 amid increased threats against Iran and growing domestic pressure for a reassessment of its nuclear policy, Vesti Baku reported. Iranian state television said the Assembly of Experts described consideration of withdrawal as an “inevitable necessity.”
No Decision to Withdraw
The Assembly of Experts is made up of clerics and is responsible for selecting and overseeing Iran’s supreme leader. Its statement adds political pressure on the country’s leadership, but it does not itself end Iran’s participation in the treaty.
A final decision on such a step would have to be made by Iran’s senior leadership and national security institutions. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council, previously said there had been no official decision to change the country’s nuclear doctrine.
Some Iranian lawmakers had already proposed leaving the NPT. The new demand carries greater political weight because it comes from a body directly connected to the system of supreme authority.
Dispute Over Enriched Uranium Intensifies
The call coincides with a harder line from Tehran over its stockpile of enriched uranium. Rezaei said Iran would not allow even part of the accumulated material to be removed from the country and was not currently negotiating with the United States.
The International Atomic Energy Agency estimated that before strikes on Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025, Iran held 440.9 kilograms of uranium enriched to 60%. The amount of that material that remains is not reliably known.
Iran says its nuclear program is exclusively peaceful. The United States, Israel and several Western countries suspect Tehran is seeking to move closer to the capability needed to build a nuclear weapon.
Leaving the NPT would not automatically mean Iran had decided to build a bomb, but it would sharply complicate international monitoring and increase the risk of further escalation.
Iran remains a treaty member and has not officially announced an end to its obligations. The Assembly of Experts’ statement therefore represents a new stage in internal pressure on the leadership, not a completed withdrawal.