Threat to Leave NPT Does Not Convey Military Ambition

Iran's threat to withdraw from the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons in case of a US pullout from the 2015 nuclear deal does not mean that it will seek to divert its nuclear activities toward military purposes, says a former senior official.  
In recent days, the head of the Supreme National Security Council,  Ali Shamkhani and Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said leaving the NPT, is an option if US President Donald Trump walks away from the historic nuclear accord signed between Tehran and the six world powers, as the treaty may no longer serve Tehran’s interests. 
  Looming Deadline
Trump has said unless European allies “fix” what he claims are "terrible flaws" in the accord by May 12, he will reimpose US economic sanctions on Iran, which would be a severe blow to the pact that put curbs on Iran's nuclear program in return for the lifting of international economic sanctions.  
The objective of the NPT, which took effect in 1970, is to halt the spread of nuclear weapons-making capability and guarantee the right of all members to develop nuclear energy for peaceful ends. 
Iran has been a non-nuclear-weapon state party to the treaty since 1970 and has maintained that its nuclear program is peaceful.