The four-week conference, held at the U.N. headquarters in New York, had been expected to produce a final document on strengthening the NPT regime. But negotiations broke down over regional nuclear threats and how to implement disarmament commitments.
It was the third straight failure after similar breakdowns in 2015 and 2022, raising concerns about the credibility of the NPT system.
The latest meeting had been expected to face difficulties from the outset, as it opened amid heightened international tensions, including the U.S.-Iran war.
Vietnamese Ambassador to the U.N. Do Hung Viet, who chaired the conference, announced late Friday that member states had failed to reach consensus on the final document.
He later told a news conference that “no one blocked consensus,” but said “a very important reason” for the failure was a provision in the final draft stating that Iran “can never seek, develop or acquire any nuclear weapons.”
Negotiators worked until the final hours, preparing a fourth revised draft and distributing it to delegations early Saturday, but still failed to bridge differences.
References to North Korea’s nuclear program were removed entirely during the revision process.
Kim Sang-jin, South Korea’s deputy permanent representative to the U.N., expressed deep regret that the document failed to include even a brief message on North Korea.
“It should have been clearly stated that North Korea can never have the status of a nuclear-weapon state under the NPT regime,” Kim said.
Viet explained that references to specific regional issues, including North Korea and Iran, had to be removed to secure space for the NPT’s three main pillars — disarmament, nonproliferation and the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
Attempts to include stronger language on nuclear-weapon states’ disarmament obligations also faced resistance, while a call for follow-up talks on the expired U.S.-Russia New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty was left out of the final draft.
Izumi Nakamitsu, the U.N. high representative for disarmament affairs, criticized nuclear-weapon states for demanding nonproliferation commitments from non-nuclear states while failing to meet their own disarmament obligations.
The failure to reach consensus for a third consecutive review cycle is “a serious lesson that the entire international community must take to heart,” she said.
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