IPPNW Condemns Strikes Against Iran, Calls for Return to Negotiations

Read full statement here and below. 28 February, 2026.

International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW) unequivocally condemns the attack on Iran by the United States and Israel and calls on them to cease immediately all further use of force and to return to the negotiating table.

The unprovoked strikes, ostensibly to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles capable of delivering a nuclear warhead, are incredibly dangerous and counterproductive. The conflict threatens the lives of large numbers of civilians in Iran and Israel. Attacking Iranian facilities could cause widespread devastation and significant releases of radioactivity. And the situation could escalate into a regional war and ultimately lead to the use of nuclear weapons — the very thing the world most needs to prevent.

For decades, the US and Israel have rejected multiple opportunities to seek a peaceful resolution to the legitimate concerns that Iran may be developing a nuclear weapons capability to counter Israel’s illegal clandestine possession of nuclear weapons. This has included refusal of multiple attempts by the United Nations and States Parties to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to negotiate a Middle East Nuclear Weapon Free Zone. During his first term, US President Trump summarily abandoned the Iran Nuclear Deal negotiated in 2015 that had successfully contained Iran’s nuclear program.

Omani Foreign Minister Badr Albusaidi, who had been mediating the current round of negotiations between the U.S. and Iran condemned the attacks saying, “Active and serious negotiations have, once again, been undermined. Neither the interests of the United States nor the cause or world peace are served.”

There is no military solution to the problem of nuclear weapons proliferation anywhere in the world, particularly in the Middle East. The need for regional and international efforts to negotiate a nuclear-weapons-free Middle East have never been more urgent. The only way to prevent the further spread of nuclear weapons – and to ensure that nuclear weapons are never used again – is for all nations to join the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) that will eliminate all existing nuclear weapons and prevent all states from acquiring or reacquiring them in the future.