Türkiye urges international pressure on Israel to join nuclear non-proliferation treaty

Türkiye's UN ambassador on Friday called on the global community to unite in urging Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and accept complete IAEA verification amid its ongoing strikes on Iran.

"Türkiye condemns, in the strongest terms, the recent attacks conducted by Israel against Iran," Ahmet Yıldız told an emergency UN Security Council session on Iran, adding that the strikes are "a manifest violation of the UN Charter."

Stressing that "a wider regional collision would aggravate the risk of nuclear or radiological spillover and mass displacement," he also said it would "disrupt global trade and transportation routes, and imperil energy security at a moment of acute volatility."

He criticized Israel's "deliberate strikes against safeguarded nuclear facilities in Iran" as "unprecedented," saying they "contravene international law" and relevant International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) agreements.

"The IAEA's verification activities inside Iran have already been impeded," he noted.

Calling it "deeply troubling that a non-NPT state, which maintains deliberate opacity regarding its own nuclear capabilities, is attacking the nuclear infrastructure of an NPT state under safeguards," Yıldız said: "This recklessness strikes at the heart of the global non-proliferation regime, compelling all of us to reflect upon its wider repercussions."

"The international community must therefore unite in urging Israel to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear-weapon state and to accept robust IAEA verification," he said.

Reiterating Türkiye's commitment to diplomacy, he said: "We continue to believe that diplomacy is the sole sensible path forward."

He also stressed that the crisis in the Gaza Strip must not be sidelined, warning: "Israel's assault on Iran cannot obscure the ongoing crimes being committed against the Palestinian people."

"Imposing peace is no longer a mere option; it is an imperative to preserve the credibility of the UN system and to safeguard international law," he said.