DOHA, June 15. /TASS/. Iran’s Mejlis (unicameral Parliament) is considering withdrawal from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in the wake of Israeli strikes on its nuclear facilities, said Deputy Rouhollah Izadkhah.
"The minimal necessary measure is withdrawal from the NPT. We are currently considering this issue in parliament, and even withdrawal from the IAEA," Iranian SNN television channel quoted him as saying.
Earlier, member of the Committee on National Security and Foreign Policy of the Mejlis, Ebrahim Rezai, called on the government of the republic to withdraw from the NPT. He stressed that this document was supposed to ensure Iran's security, "and not become the reason for its absence."
Israel launched Operation Rising Lion on the night of June 13, targeting Iran's nuclear program. Less than a day later, the republic retaliated. On June 14 and on the night of June 15, Israel and Iran exchanged strikes again. Both sides reported deaths and injuries as a result of these attacks, acknowledged that some objects on their territories were hit, but stated that the damage was limited.
Iran began developing its own nuclear program in the 1950s during the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, with the support of the United States. In 1958, the country became a member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and in 1968, Tehran signed the NPT, which was ratified in 1970. After the shah was ousted in 1979 and the Islamic Republic proclaimed, the nuclear program was halted until the authorities resumed the development of nuclear technology in the late 1980s.