Iran’s Assembly of Experts has said that examining withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) has become “an unavoidable necessity” and “a public and national demand”.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the clerical body said the enemy’s repeated threats, particularly against Iran’s nuclear knowledge, showed there was no hope in the international bodies responsible for the issue, The Caspian Post reports, citing Al Jazeera.

The Assembly of Experts is an 88-member body of senior clerics, elected by popular vote every eight years, that is constitutionally responsible for appointing, supervising and, in theory, dismissing Iran’s supreme leader.

It said revising Iran’s defence doctrine, withdrawing from the NPT and creating the necessary deterrence had become a public and national demand, and expressed hope that officials would address it under the Supreme Leader’s guidance.

The assembly stopped short of directly calling for withdrawal, framing the issue as one that should be examined. Any decision would rest with the supreme leader.