JAKARTA - The failure of the United States and Iran's peace talks in Pakistan is not just a diplomatic impasse. GREAT Institute sees a deeper problem: the West's double standards on the nuclear issue continue to be maintained.
US Vice President JD Vance said Iran refused to abandon its nuclear weapons program. However, GREAT Institute Geopolitical Director Dr. Teguh Santosa assessed that the accusation was not self-standing.
According to the Chairman of the JMSI, since the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was signed in 1968, Western countries have been inconsistent. The United States and its allies continue to develop nuclear capacity, even allowing allies such as Israel to have warheads without being bound by the NPT.
"With this situation, it is natural that countries that feel vulnerable to attacks by the US and its allies feel they must develop similar weapons as a deterrent factor," said Teguh, Sunday, April 12, 2026.
He assessed that the logic used by the West also encouraged other countries to take similar steps. When a big country feels it is legitimate to strengthen weapons of mass destruction, other countries that do not want to be victims will be encouraged to pursue the same ability.
Teguh, who is also the dean of International Relations at UIN Syarief Hidayatullah Jakarta, emphasized that Iran has developed a nuclear program for peaceful purposes, such as energy and medicine, in accordance with the NPT principles. However, after the open attacks on Iran in the last two years, there has been an impetus to see nuclear as a deterrent.
He also referred to the late Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's fatwa banning nuclear weapons because it was against the principle of war in Islam which limits the target only to combatants.
Therefore, Teguh assessed that the urgent thing was not just to pressure Iran, but the consistency of the US and its allies in implementing the NPT. Without it, the world risks entering a wider phase of the arms race.
Data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) shows that there are currently nine nuclear weapons states. Russia has about 5,459 warheads, followed by the United States 5,177, China 600, France 290, Britain 225, India 180, Pakistan 170, Israel 90, and North Korea 50.
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