Egypt
Egypt voted in favour of adopting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at the UN negotiating conference in 2017 and has consistently voted in favour of the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the TPNW, including in 2025. 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 (Ratified 1981) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | No (Signed 1996, Annex 2 state) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | No (Signed 1996, Pelindaba) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1982) | |
| AP with the IAEA | No | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | No (Signed 1972) | |
| Party to the CWC | No | |
| 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 yes (2025) |
| Participated in 3MSP (2025) | Yes (observer) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes (observer) |
| Participated in 1MSP (2022) | No |
| Average MSP delegation size (% women) | 3 (0%) |
| 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 | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | No |
Latest developments
Egypt attended the Third Meeting of States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in March 2025 as an observer. ‘A discussion which premises itself on the humanitarian and ethical imperative of the prohibition of nuclear weapons and their total elimination has the full and solemn support of Egypt, as it maintains the focus on the true, final destination,’ Egypt said.1
‘The approach of this Treaty is of increasing significance at a time when nuclear disarmament discussions are being systematically distorted by the notions of deterrence and strategic stability, or by continuous attempts to substitute disarmament with a set of confidence-building and nuclear-risk-reduction measures,’ it added.
‘The government of Egypt does not view the [TPNW] as an alternative or a competitor to the NPT. We appreciate the continuous efforts by the TPNW States Parties in underlining and elaborating the complementarity between both treaties. The TPNW provides an opportunity to further support the implementation of Article VI of the [Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons] NPT.’
At the NPT Preparatory Committee meeting in April 2025, Egypt emphasized that the possession of nuclear weapons by the nuclear-weapon States was only meant to be a temporary arrangement within the context of negotiations for elimination.2
Speaking at a high-level event on 26 September 2025 to mark the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Egypt, Badr Abdelatty, said: ‘We must all work together to put an end to this global threat. The threat of using nuclear weapons is unacceptable.’3
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2025, Egypt said: ‘There is no logic more compelling than the total, verifiable, and irreversible elimination of nuclear weapons as the only guarantee against their proliferation, use, or threat of use—not deterrence nor the so-called strategic stability.’4
Recommendations
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Egypt should urgently adhere to the TPNW.
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Egypt should conclude and bring into force an Additional Protocol (AP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
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Egypt should ratify the Pelindaba nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) Treaty, which it signed in 1996.
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Egypt should also ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), and adhere to the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC).