Overview
- The NPT Review Conference closed without adopting a consensus final document on Thursday, May 22, after weeks of talks at UN headquarters in New York.
- Delegates said the collapse was driven by sharp standoffs, notably between the United States and Iran, and by nuclear-armed states taking defensive positions that blocked compromise.
- Critics and negotiators reported repeated watering down of disarmament language in the final drafts, including removal of references to North Korea and softer wording on IAEA verification measures.
- Conference leaders and witnesses framed the failure as a moral setback: the chair cited visits to Hiroshima and Nagasaki and hibakusha testimony as motivation, while UN Secretary-General António Guterres expressed disappointment and urged renewed diplomacy.
- The meeting marks the third consecutive missed consensus (2015, 2022, 2026); work will now shift to three preparatory committee sessions over the next five years to try to restore the treaty's credibility ahead of the 2031 review.