Iran’s Parliamentary Speaker Ali Larijani publicly condemned the international community this weekend, accusing them of dealing with Iran in a “dishonest” was and asking “what use is there to be a part of the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) when it cannot even defend the rights of its members.”
Larijani further lamented that it would have been better to pursue peaceful nuclear technology “without any attention to the treaty because it does nothing but complicate matters even more.”
Despite the rising acrimony with the West and Larijani’s comments, the head of Iran’s nuclear program Ali Akbar Salehi insists that Iran will continue to abide by its obligations as a signatory to the NPT.
For the time being, however, Iran has insisted that it will only offer the bare minimum cooperation with the IAEA required under the NPT. Officials did hold out the possibility of future talks with the West, but with the US pressing for sanctions, it seems unlikely that this will happen any time soon.