Ambassador Viet pushes for consensus at NPT review, defends handling of Iran vice-presidency dispute

Ambassador Viet, president of the 11th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), opened the conference press briefing by urging states parties to seek a consensus outcome and by defending his handling of a dispute over Iran's nomination to a vice-presidency role.

Viet said the NPT remains "the cornerstone of international security architecture" but is meeting "the most challenging time" for its regime. He told reporters he had conducted extensive consultations over the previous seven to eight months, including regional meetings in the Asia-Pacific, Africa, the Middle East and Latin America and visits to Vienna and Geneva. He said he had visited nuclear-weapon states and engaged broadly with delegations to help steer negotiations toward a practical, implementable outcome.

Asked about Iran's nomination to a vice-presidency, Viet said the nomination came from the Non-Aligned Movement and that concerns about the candidacy surfaced only about a week before the conference. "The nomination is the right of any state party and the right of any group to nominate their candidates," he said, and noted that Rule 31 of the conference's Rules of Procedure provides for a secret ballot unless delegates agree otherwise. To preserve the conference's consensus-based process, he said he secured agreement from states parties that those with objections would "disassociate themselves from the decision" rather than force a vote.

On the broader goals of the meeting, Viet stressed why a consensus outcome matters. He said two previous review conferences failed to agree on an outcome and that a third consecutive failure would send "a deeply troubling message" about the NPT's credibility. "An outcome document is the ultimate expression of consensus," he said, and he added he plans to present a draft outcome earlier in the conference than in past reviews to allow more negotiation time.

Reporters pressed Viet on several regional and procedural questions. Ahmed Fadhi of EDN News asked whether the Iran nomination was expected to be "explosive" and who pushed for it; Viet repeated that the Non-Aligned Movement had put forward the nomination and said the issue emerged late in consultations. Abdul Hamid Siam of Al Quds Al Arabi challenged whether the treaty's disarmament and nonproliferation pillars have been respected and asked why countries outside the treaty, such as Israel, do not face the same scrutiny; Viet said the NPT has helped curb proliferation, pointed to reductions in global warhead numbers since the treaty entered into force in 1970, and said calls for non-members to join the treaty are regularly voiced in review conferences.

On the Middle East nuclear-weapon-free-zone — a resolution adopted in 1995 as part of the package for the NPT's indefinite extension — Viet acknowledged progress has been limited but said the issue remains on the conference and UN agendas and could be reflected in the outcome depending on negotiations. On North Korea (the DPRK), Viet said the withdrawal and related issues have been raised at multiple review conferences and that he was not aware of current, active negotiations to settle the matter.

When asked about his facilitation style, Viet said he aims for a transparent, inclusive approach that gives smaller delegations time to engage. He summarized his objective with a line that drew attention from the room: "I will strive to make everyone equally unhappy," meaning he will try to balance competing views so no party gets everything it wants.

The moderator closed the briefing by reminding attendees the review conference runs through May 22 and that Viet will return at the end of the four-week meeting to comment on results and whether he succeeded in producing an agreed outcome.

Ambassador Viet's opening and the early exchanges set the agenda for a conference focused on preserving the NPT's credibility, managing contentious nominations without setting a precedent for votes, and presenting a draft outcome early to maximize negotiation time. No formal motions or votes were taken during the press briefing.