Iran to quit NPT if attacked again, Leader's adviser says

Iran will break any naval blockade imposed by the United States on its vessels and ports and could withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if US attacks against the Islamic Republic resume, a senior adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader has said.

Speaking at a ceremony on Sunday marking what Tehran describes as the martyrs of the recent US-Israeli “war of aggression” against Iran, Mohsen Rezaei said Iran’s nuclear programme is peaceful and remains under continuous monitoring by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), News.Az reports, citing Iran’s English-language Press TV.

He added that, under the Supreme Leader’s guidance, Iran’s negotiating team in talks with the United States has firmly stated it will not abandon what it calls the country’s “inalienable nuclear rights”.

“If you enter the Persian Gulf, first of all, we will give a tough, painful and unprecedented response and break the naval blockade,” Rezaei warned Washington.

“But more importantly, we may withdraw from the NPT. Do you know what will happen to you if we withdraw? So… don’t commit suicide.”

Rezaei, a former commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said the region is currently in a sensitive phase and added that “our fingers are on the trigger” in response to any act of aggression against Iran.

He said the IRGC Navy is responsible for managing security in the Strait of Hormuz, which he described as essential to preventing military escalation and ensuring safe passage for commercial shipping through the strategic waterway.

He also warned US President Donald Trump and his administration that any conflict would not be confined to the Strait of Hormuz, but could extend to the Red Sea, the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and the Indian Ocean if US forces entered the Persian Gulf.

News.Az