Tunisia
Tunisia voted in favour of adopting the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) at the UN diplomatic conference in 2017 and has consistently voted in favour of the annual UN General Assembly resolutions on the Treaty, 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 1970) | |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2004) | |
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 2009, Pelindaba) | |
| CSA with the IAEA | Yes (In force 1990) | |
| AP with the IAEA | No (Signed 2005) | |
| BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS | ||
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1973) | |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1997) | |
| 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) | 2 (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 | No |
| Fissile material production | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
| SQP with the IAEA | No |
Latest developments
Tunisia attended the Third Meeting of States Parties (3MSP) to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) in March 2025 as an observer. It did not make a statement.
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 Tunisia, Mohamed Ali Nafti, noted ‘a worrying escalation in threats of the use of these weapons and an unprecedented acceleration in the nuclear arms race’. He reiterated his country’s ‘firm commitment to working towards establishing a world free of nuclear weapons’ and called on nuclear-armed States to abandon nuclear deterrence policies and eliminate their arsenals.1
In the First Committee of the UN General Assembly in October 2025, Tunisia expressed deep concern that ‘nuclear weapons investments continue to soar’. ‘Consequently, international peace and security, the environment, and the whole planet continue to be in jeopardy,’ it said. ‘We will be much better together without nuclear weapons.’2 It called for ‘investment in peace and international development instead of investment in war, and for engaging in a disarmament race instead of an arms race’.3
In 2021, Tunisia welcomed the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).4
Recommendations
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Tunisia should urgently adhere to the TPNW.
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Tunisia should bring into force its Additional Protocol (AP) with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).