In a statement on Saturday, Foreign Ministry Spokesman Seyyed Abbas Mousavi said the French Navy’s launch of a new generation of intercontinental ballistic missiles capable of carrying several nuclear warheads (dubbed M51 missile) was totally in contravention of the spirit and the text of Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and of France’s commitment to nuclear disarmament.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran’s government expresses concern about such measure, believes that the French government must not ignore its international commitments under the Article VI of the NPT and declaration of the NPT Review Conferences, and calls on Paris to fully honor its international commitments to nuclear disarmament,” Mousavi added.
He finally slammed nuclear weapons as a threat to international peace and security, noting that renovation and testing of such weapons would undermine the NPT as the cornerstone of the international nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime.
The French Ministry of Armed Forces announced that a nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarine (SSBN) of the French Navy has successfully launched an M51 submarine launched ballistic missile in operational conditions on June 12.
