Global General

Iran criticizes new US nuclear strategy

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-11 20:18

TEHRAN - Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani criticized on Sunday the new US nuclear strategy, pointing out that it is a violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the local satellite Press TV reported.

"The US has announced it will not use nuclear weapons except in extraordinary situations. It has also pledged not to use atomic bombs against NPT members, except Iran and North Korea," Larijani was quoted as saying by Press TV.

"And they call this a 'new' nuclear arms strategy. Just take a look at how many contradictory issues are embedded in this policy, " he said without elaborating.

The United States will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear weapons states and in compliance with their nuclear non-proliferation obligations, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said Tuesday in a joint briefing with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Secretary of Energy Steven Chu on the newly released strategy, known as Nuclear Posture Review (NPR).

This conditional assurance means that countries like Iran and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea that have violated or renounced the treaty would remain on the potential target list of US nuclear forces.

Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki Wednesday dismissed the new US nuclear strategy as "propaganda" and urged Washington to fulfill its promise on nuclear disarmament.