Tehran: US Reliance on Nuclear Weapons Moves Humanity Closer to Annihilation

The Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) of the United States shows the country's increasing reliance on nuclear weapons, Iranian Foreign Minister Javad Zarif said, stressing that such an approach would bring humanity closer to destruction.

"The US Nuclear Posture Review reflects greater reliance on nukes in violation of the NPT [Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons], bringing humankind closer to annihilation. No wonder the Doomsday Clock is at its most dangerous since 1953," Zarif wrote on Twitter.

The Iranian minister also criticized Washington's approach to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) by saying that the "obduracy" of US President Donald Trump in "killing" the agreement comes from the same "dangerous imprudence."

The NPR, published on Friday, claims that a stronger US nuclear deterrent is needed to discourage Russia, China, Iran and North Korea from either developing new weapons or expanding existing arsenals.

Moreover, the doctrine envisages short-term plans to modify existing submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) warheads to provide a low-yield option and pursue a modern nuclear-armed sea-launched cruise missile (SLCM) in the long run.

The NPR notes that these activities are not intended at being employed in a nuclear warfare, however, they are aimed at raising the US nuclear threshold to ensure that the country's potential adversaries perceive no possible advantage in nuclear escalation.