German ex-chancellor: Nuclear powers violate NPT

Source: PressTV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=120172§ionid=351020604


Former German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt says certain nuclear powers, including Russia and the United States, violate the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

Moscow and Washington have refused to agree not to be the first to use nuclear weapons if a war breaks out, Schmidt said, expressing regret.

The German politician noted that China is the only nuclear country to have officially announced that it will not be the first to use atomic arms.

Schmidt said the number of countries with nuclear arsenals has increased from five to nine in the past four decades, pointing out that India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel have joined the nuclear club.

Schmidt also said that the NPT has alarmingly failed to halt the proliferation of nuclear arms around the globe, and warned against the possibility that militants in such countries might get access to nuclear weapons.

The former chancellor also rejected some Western countries' claims that Iran is seeking atomic weapons, dismissing the allegations as 'unsubstantiated claims.'