Argentina
Argentina is the only State in Latin America that has not yet signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). In 2024 and 2025, it voted against the annual UN General Assembly resolution on the Treaty. In previous years, it had abstained from voting on the resolution. Argentina participated in the TPNW negotiations in 2017 and voted in favour of the Treaty’s adoption. It maintains policies and practices that are compatible with all of the prohibitions in Article 1 of the TPNW, and can therefore sign and ratify or accede to the Treaty without the need for a change in conduct.
TPNW Status
| Key weapons of mass destruction treaties | ||
|---|---|---|
| NUCLEAR WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the TPNW | No | |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 1995) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 1998, Annex 2 state) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 1994, Tlatelolco) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1994) | |
| AP with the IAEA | No | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1979) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1995) | |
| TPNW Art. 1(1) prohibitions: Compatibility in 2025 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compatible |
| Possess or stockpile | Compatible | |
| Test | Compatible | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compatible |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compatible |
| (d) | Use | Compatible |
| Threaten to use | Compatible | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compatible |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compatible |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compatible |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted no (2025) |
| Participated in 3MSP (2025) | No |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | No |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | No |
| Average MSP delegation size (% women) | N/A |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Nuclear facilities | Yes |
| Fissile material production | Yes (Civilian) |
| HEU stocks | Cleared |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | No |
Latest developments
At the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) Preparatory Committee meeting in April 2025, Argentina said that, in the current international context, it is ‘more necessary than ever for nuclear-weapon States to work on reducing their arsenals in a sustained and transparent manner, in order to fulfil their obligations under Article VI of the Treaty’. It recognized ‘the validity of unilateral, bilateral, and regional measures that contribute to the objective of nuclear disarmament’.1
At a high-level event on 26 September 2025 marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Argentina said: ‘Today we are navigating a complex international context, marked by increasing tensions and challenges to global security. This scenario demands a renewed political will and a strengthening of the multilateral architecture for disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation, whose fundamental pillar is the [NPT].’2
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2025, Argentina highlighted its concern regarding the current international context on security and disarmament. ‘The progressive deterioration of the multilateral normative architecture in this area—marked by the erosion of key agreements on arms control, disarmament, and confidence-building measures—is a cause for serious concern,’ it said.3
In 2023, Argentina described the NPT as the ‘central element’ of the non-proliferation and disarmament regime, and said that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) or any other future instruments in this area ‘should strengthen the NPT, avoiding duplication or generating parallel regimes on provisions that already are consolidated or broadly accepted in the framework of the NPT’.4
As part of the UN Human Rights Council's Universal Periodic Review process in 2023, Argentina ‘noted’ a recommendation to sign and ratify the TPNW.5
Recommendations
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Argentina should urgently adhere to the TPNW. Until it is in a position to do so, it should welcome the TPNW as a valuable component in the global disarmament and non-proliferation architecture, work with the Treaty's states parties on practical steps towards disarmament, and attend the meetings of states parties as an observer.
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Argentina should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol (AP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).