TEHRAN – The United States has faced fierce criticism over the failure of UN talks to reach a consensus on reaffirming nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament goals.

Negotiators had been reviewing the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the cornerstone of global nuclear arms control, amid fears of a renewed arms race. But the talks ended on Friday without yielding an agreement. 

Vietnam’s Do Hung Viet, the president of the conference, said “despite our best efforts… it is my understanding that the conference is not in a position to achieve agreement on its substantive work.”
“I do not intend to put the document forward for adoption,” he added.

A US-based nonprofit monitor blamed Washington for using the talks as a platform for complicated negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program.

The conference’s failure to reach an agreement means there are “now no agreed limits on the size of the Russian and US nuclear arsenals, the world’s largest,” for “the first time since 1972,” according to a statement by the Arms Control Association (ACA).

“Tragically, NPT states missed an important opportunity to formally reaffirm their support for the treaty and its core principles, goals, and objectives at a time of increasing nuclear dangers,” ACA Executive Director Daryl Kimball said.
“In reality, the ongoing dispute over Iran’s sensitive nuclear activities, which has been complicated by President Trump’s withdrawal from the [Iran nuclear deal] in 2018, cannot be resolved at the NPT Review Conference,” Kimball said.

He added that the future of Iran’s nuclear program, which Tehran has long maintained is solely for civilian purposes, “must be addressed through serious and more sustained diplomacy outside the halls of the UN.”

“Even if consensus could have been achieved,” Kimball added, “states-parties missed a chance to use the conference to address the dizzying array of nuclear dangers, including the deficit in nuclear disarmament diplomacy.”

Iran’s mission to the UN also accused Washington’s “excessive demands” of pushing the nuclear non-proliferation talks toward collapse.

“The NPT Review Conference failed for the third consecutive time due to obstructionism by the United States and its allies,” the mission said in a post on X.

It noted that the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty — designed to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and ultimately achieve a world free of them — has “no future” without broader disarmament efforts.