2010 Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference: Key Issues and Implications
"The nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which entered into force in 1970 and was extended
indefinitely in 1995, is the centerpiece of international nuclear nonproliferation efforts.
The NPT recognizes five nations (the United States, Russia, France, Britain, and China) as
nuclear-weapon states; 189 countries are parties to the NPT. India, Israel, and Pakistan have
never signed the treaty and possess nuclear weapons. North Korea acceded to the NPT but
announced its withdrawal in 2003. Several countries, including Argentina, Brazil, and South
Africa, ended their nuclear weapons programs and joined the NPT in the 1990s. Others—Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan—gave up former Soviet nuclear weapons on their territories and joined
the NPT as non-nuclear-weapon states in the 1990s. Iraq had a nuclear weapons program prior
to the 1991 Persian Gulf War. UN inspectors subsequently oversaw the program’s dismantlement,
and Iraq is now in full compliance with the NPT. Libya gave up a clandestine nuclear weapons
program after a 2003 agreement. Iran was found in noncompliance with its International Atomic
Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards obligations in 2005, and the matter was referred to the UN
Security Council. The IAEA has reported that Syria has not fully cooperated with an
investigation into its nuclear activities..."