Days after the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board passed a resolution against Iran in November 2025, a member of parliament’s Internal Affairs and Councils Commission told the Iranian outlet Etemad Online that leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty would have no effect on Iran’s economy or security, and would instead increase the country’s nuclear and military power.

He went further. China and Russia, he claimed, would support an Iranian withdrawal, and Dmitry Medvedev, the deputy head of Russia’s Security Council, had indirectly signaled that Russia was ready to place nuclear weapons at Iran’s disposal. He also pointed to military cooperation among Iran, Russia and North Korea as evidence of an emerging coalition against the United States. The outlet ran the claim as its headline: “Russia’s readiness to hand nuclear weapons to Iran.”

Why it matters

For years, Iranian officials insisted the nuclear program was purely peaceful and that leaving the NPT was not on the table. Statements like this mark a shift from denial to brinkmanship: openly floating withdrawal, and openly linking it to weapons.

The claim about Moscow rests on a vague remark and should be read skeptically; the Kremlin has made no such commitment. But that is partly the point. Lawmakers are useful trial balloons, saying what ministers cannot. As another clip shows, parliamentary hawkishness in Iran can be choreographed to pressure the other side. Either way, the direction of travel is clear, and it raises the stakes for anyone still treating Tehran’s nuclear intentions as benign.