US-Iran Clash at UN Over Nuclear Programme
The United States (US) and Iran clashed at the United Nations (UN) forum over Tehran’s nuclear programme. The US protested Iran’s election as one of dozens of vice-presidents in the month-long conference to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
The 11th conference to review the implementation of the NPT, which entered into force in 1970, as reported by Reuters on Tuesday (28/4/2026), began on Monday (27/4) local time at the UN headquarters in New York, US.
Various groups nominated 34 vice-presidents for the conference, with the conference chair, Vietnam’s UN Ambassador Do Hung Viet, stating that Iran was selected by “the group of non-aligned countries and other countries”.
US Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, Christopher Yeaw, said at the conference that Iran’s election was an “insult” to the NPT.
He stated that “it is undeniable that Iran has long shown contempt for its NPT non-proliferation commitments” and has refused to cooperate with the UN’s nuclear watchdog to resolve questions about Tehran’s nuclear programme.
Yeaw described Iran’s election as “a highly embarrassing matter that tarnishes the credibility of this conference”.
At the same conference, Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Reza Najafi, rejected the US statement as “baseless and politically motivated”.
“It is unjustifiable that the United States, as the only country that has ever used nuclear weapons, and a country that continues to expand and modernise its nuclear arsenal… seeks to position itself as an arbiter of compliance,” Najafi said.
The nuclear issue has been at the core of the war raging between the US and Israel against Iran, with President Donald Trump reiterating on Sunday (26/4) that Tehran will never have nuclear weapons.
Iran has long demanded that the US recognise its right to enrich uranium, which Tehran claims is only pursued for peaceful purposes. However, Western powers worry that it could be used to make nuclear weapons.
Iran has repeatedly insisted that it is not seeking nuclear weapons. But the IAEA and Washington’s intelligence community have separately assessed that Tehran had a nuclear weapons development programme that was shut down in 2003.