The 2026 NPT Review Conference comes at a time of war, nuclear arms races and potential proliferation. PNND makes common-security-based proposals to end the war against Iran, strengthen the NPT and help facilitate nuclear disarmament.
Photo: Kekhashan Basu presenting to the NPT Review Conference on the topic Common Security as a credible alternative to nuclear deterrence.
States Parties to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) are entering the final week of the 2026 NPT Review Conference, which is taking place at the United Nations from April 27-May 22.
The conference comes at a difficult time for nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament, with armed conflicts involving nuclear armed and non-nuclear States (Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the US-Israel military attacks against Iran); a renewed nuclear arms race between the nuclear-armed States; increased reliance on nuclear deterrence with several non-nuclear States joining nuclear alliances (Finland and Sweden joining NATO and Belarus rescinding it’s nuclear-free-status in order to host Russian nuclear weapons); and increasing concerns about additional break-out from the NPT.
The US-Israel military attacks against Iran, in particular, pose a critical test for the NPT.
From the US/Israel perspective, the NPT has failed to prevent Iran’s civilian nuclear research and energy program from being used to advance ambitions to produce a nuclear bomb. From the Iranian perspective, being a member of the NPT and agreeing to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards has failed to protect them from hypocritical military attacks from two nuclear-armed States, neither of which accept IAEA safeguards.
This could lead Iran to withdraw from the NPT, just as North Korea did in 2003. Such an action might stimulate other counties in the Middle East (such as Saudi Arabia) to also leave the NPT, followed by a cascade of other countries such as Turkey, South Korea and Egypt. This would put the NPT in extreme peril. (See What if Iran withdraws from the NPT, Bulletin of Atomic Scientists).
On May 1, PNND Co-President Bill Kidd MSP addressed a plenary session of the NPT Review Conference, at which he submitted a proposal developed by PNND Senior Adviser Jonathan Granoff, and made public in the Newsweek article War Will Not Stop Iran's Nuclear Threat, This Could.
“The proposal calls for the NPT to adopt comprehensive inspection safeguards, much like those in the Joint Cooperative Plan of Action and the Chemical Weapons Convention, and apply these to all non-nuclear weapons states parties to the NPT, not just Iran,” said Mr Kidd. “This would make the world safer, stop the next North Korea, and allow both the USA and Iran to rightfully claim a victory for the world. It would also strengthen the legitimacy of the NPT regime by reinforcing its nonproliferation pillar.”
Mr Granoff says that although the proposal does not directly address the NPT obligation of the nuclear weapon States to achieve nuclear disarmament. “Stopping a war and saving the unique legal instrument that obligates the P5 to achieve nuclear disarmament is worth our efforts.”
Mr Kidd notes that the above proposal, and the related proposal for a Middle East Zone Free from Nuclear Weapons and other Weapons of Mass Destruction, are examples of a common security approach to nuclear non-proliferation that also serves nuclear disarmament.
“This approach involves elevating diplomacy, cooperative leadership, conflict resolution and the rule of law,” says Mr Kidd. Amongst other things, it involves “strengthening the roles of the UN General Assembly, International Court of Justice and International Criminal Court to prevent - and build accountability for - acts of aggression… In these ways we can replace the reliance on nuclear deterrence with reliance on common security.”
This common security approach has been promoted further promoted at the 2026 NPT Review Conference at the plenary, at various side events, and in various news reports including Can we end war and abolish nuclear weapons? Promoting LAW not War at the NPT Review Conference published by UNFOLD ZERO, and Can “Common Security” Replace Nuclear Deterrence? published by the OnestNetwork, a news service covering the NPT Review Conference and other UN events.
“Common Security is based on the understanding that lasting security depends on addressing the concerns of all states, including adversaries,” explained Kehkashan Basu, Co-President of World Federalist Movement – Institute for Global Policy, to the NPT plenary on May 1. “It emphasizes diplomacy, negotiation, mediation, and the application of international law to prevent conflict and resolve disputes.”
“The UN Charter provides clear avenues for peaceful resolution of conflicts, including mediation, arbitration, and adjudication,” continued Ms Basu. “Strengthening these mechanisms, including broader acceptance of the jurisdiction of the International Court of Justice, is essential to reinforcing a rules-based international order.”
“2026 marks the 30th anniversary of the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legality of the threat or use of nuclear weapons,” announced Rebecca Shoot, PNND Senior Adviser and Co-convenor of the ImPact Coalition on Strengthening the International Judicial Institutions, to the NPT plenary. “This opinion underscored both the profound legal constraints on these weapons and the obligation to pursue and conclude negotiations leading to complete nuclear disarmament. It is also the 80th anniversary of that Court itself—an institution created to uphold the rule of law at the international level, even in the most consequential matters.”
PNND co-sponsored a side event on May 5 entitled Can Common Security replace Nuclear Deterrence? to build deeper dialogue on the issue. Two of the presentations are available on video – those of Dr. Deepshikha Vijh, Executive Director, Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy, and Paul Ingram, Research Affiliate, Centre for the Study of Existential Risk.
Mr Kidd also presented a joint parliamentary appeal Turn Back the Doomsday Clock, to the NPT Review Conference. The appeal, endorsed by 70 parliamentarians from 34 legislatures, includes nine concrete recommendations for achieving the peace and security of a nuclear weapon free world – a world based on the common security of the UN Charter, not the threat or use of force.
The nine recommendations to the NPT Review Conference are for:
Some of these recommendations have been gaining traction in the NPT Review Conference and reflected in the Zero Draft Outcome Document released on May 6 by the President of the NPT Review Conference. This includes, for example, the call for no-first-use policies. See NPT Zero Draft calls for NoFirstUse policies.
Some of the other recommendations in the appeal are gaining traction in other forums, e.g.
