ERBIL, Kurdistan Region of Iraq – Iran’s hardline Assembly of Experts on Thursday described reviewing Tehran’s potential withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as an “unavoidable necessity,” while warning Tehran against making concessions to US demands.

“Examining the possibility of withdrawing from the NPT, revising the nation’s defense doctrine, and establishing the necessary deterrence has become an unavoidable necessity and a broad national demand,” Iran’s second-most powerful body said in a statement, citing repeated strike threats against Iran.

“No reliance can be placed on the international institutions responsible in this domain.”

Composed of 88 clerics, the Assembly of Experts is responsible for selecting the Iranian supreme leader and is notorious for its conservative, hardline make-up.

Iran has repeatedly warned that it could withdraw from the nuclear NPT, arguing that its rights under the treaty have not been safeguarded following US and Israeli attacks on its nuclear sites.

Iran has been a signatory to the NPT since 1970 but has faced intense criticism over its uranium enrichment program, with Western powers and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) repeatedly highlighting breaches in compliance.

Tehran has demanded that Washington meet its conditions, including the release of frozen Iranian assets and allowing it to continue its nuclear activities, in the latest peace overtures, coming as the US has ramped up an economic campaign comprising extensive sanctions and efforts to hamper both overland and maritime Iranian exports.

“Those who imagine that by making concessions to the United States, they can dissuade it from its hostility toward the Iranian nation are gravely mistaken,” the assembly said, reflecting the leadership’s position toward Washington.

Even the slightest move toward submission to the US “will squander the immense capital and only embolden the arrogant enemy to make further excessive demands,” it said.

On Wednesday, Iran’s security chief Mohsen Rezaei said Tehran has told Russia that its enriched nuclear material will stay in Iran to be used for ships and submarines with nuclear propulsion.

“As long as we remain a party to the NPT, we must enjoy all our rights and then fulfill our obligations. Past experience has shown that Iran fulfilled its obligations but did not enjoy all its rights. For this reason, we have changed our diplomatic approach,” Rezaei said.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed that February's US-Israeli war on Iran was instrumental in hampering Iranian ambitions to produce a nuclear weapon. Tehran insists that its proliferation efforts are entirely for civilian purposes.

The comments come as Trump said Thursday that Washington no longer needs a deal with Tehran, claiming the US has full control of Iran’s assets and the Strait of Hormuz, while adding that “those days have long since passed.”