Nuclear Weapons

Trump Administration Should Rethink its Failing Iran Policy

Viewpoint by Kelsey Davenport and Daryl G. Kimball

Iran has announced that it will exceed a limit on enriched uranium set by the 2015 multilateral nuclear agreement, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). The following is the text of a statement by Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy and Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – Iran’s decision to breach caps imposed by the accord is a troubling but predictable response to the Trump administration’s systematic campaign to deny Iran any benefit from the nuclear deal over the past year.

Photo: Sergio Duarte, then UN High Representative for Disarmament, opening the 6th Conference on Facilitating the Entry into Force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), on 24 September 2009, in New York. Photo # 411972. Credit: UN Photo/Sophia Paris.

Resist Erosion of NPT to Rid the World of Atomic Bombs

Crumbling Security Landscape Ahead of the 2020 Review Conference

Viewpoint by Sergio Duarte

Ambassador Sergio Duarte is President of Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, and a former UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs. He was president of the 2005 Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The forthcoming 50th anniversary of the entry into force of the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) provides the opportunity to look for lessons to be learned from its history and from its review cycles.

Photo: Review and Extension Conference of the Treaty on Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Opens at UN Headquarters in New York. Seated on the podium from left to right are: Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali; Ambassador Jayantha Dhanapala (Sri Lanka), President of the Conference; Prvoslav Davinic, Secretary-General of the Conference. 17 April 1995. Photo # 68537. Credit: UN Photo/Evan Schneider

1995 NPT Review and Extension Conference in Retrospect

Viewpoint by David Krieger

The author is President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. The following article originally appeared on the organisation's website on April 9, 2019.

SANTA BARBARA, CA | USA (IDN-INPS) – The Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) was opened for signatures in 1968 and entered into force in 1970. Despite its name, the NPT sought not only to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation, but also, in Article VI, called for good faith negotiations for an end to the nuclear arms race at an early date, for nuclear disarmament, and for general and complete disarmament.

Photo: Screenshot of U.S. Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo briefing the press in Washington, DC on June 13, 2019. Credit: U.S. State Department

U.S. Accusations Against Iran Not Without Risk

By Kelsey Davenport

The following article by Kelsey Davenport, director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, was published on their website.

WASHINGTON, DC (IDN-INPS) – Tensions over the 2015 multilateral nuclear deal with Iran continue to rise after the Trump administration accused Tehran of violating one of its commitments under the agreement, but Iran’s decision to install additional advanced centrifuges appears to fall into a gray area not covered by the accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

Photo: "Baker Shot", part of Operation Crossroads, a nuclear test by the United States at Bikini Atoll in 1946. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

USA Claims Russia Flouting Global Ban on Nuclear Testing Too

By Ramesh Jaura

BERLIN | NEW YORK (IDN) – Amid mounting signs of a new arms race unleashing between the United States and Russia, which together account for 93 percent of the nuclear weapons around the world, a top Trump Administration official has obliquely accused Russia of violating the global ban on nuclear tests enshrined in the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

The allegation comes within days of UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ video message on the anniversary of the launch of his disarmament agenda 'Securing Our Common Future', in Geneva on May 24.

Photo: Shaheen II, surface-to-surface ballistic missile, according to Pakistan capable of delivering conventional and nuclear weapons at a range of up to 1,500 kilometers, during a training launch in this photo released by Inter Services Public Relations, May 23, 2019.

Pakistan Tests Nuclear-Capable Ballistic Missile, Affirms Willingness for Dialogue with India

By Ayaz Gul

This article first appeared on Voice of America on May 23, 2019.

ISLAMABAD (IDN-INPS) – Pakistan says it has successfully conducted a “training launch” of a ballistic missile capable of carrying both nuclear and conventional warheads up to 1,500 kilometers.

The move came amid Pakistan’s heightened military tensions with neighboring rival India, and it is seen by observers as part of the efforts Islamabad is making to keep pace with New Delhi’s massive investments in military hardware and advancements.

Photo: U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo traveled with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Credit: Kremlin.ru

Uncertainty over U.S.-Russian Arms Control Talks

By Kingston Reif and Shervin Taheran

While Kingston Reif is Director for Disarmament and Threat Reduction Policy, Shervin Taheran is Research Assistant at the Arms Control Association, which carried this report on May 24, 2019.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – Following a May 14 meeting in Sochi, Russia, with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters that the two countries “agreed that … we will gather together teams that will begin to work not only on [the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty] New START and its potential extension but on a broader range of arms control issues that each of our two nations have.”

Photo released by the official North Korean Central News Agency showing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. overseeing weapons tests at an undisclosed location in May. KCNA/EPA

Door to North Korea Remains Open Despite Missile Tests

By Alicia Sanders-Zakre and Kelsey Davenport

While Alicia Sanders-Zakre is research assistant, Kelsey Davenport, is director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association, which carried this report on May 21, 2019.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – The next steps for U.S. diplomacy with North Korea remain unclear after Pyongyang tested several short-range ballistic missiles in early May. Despite the missile tests, South Korea and the United States urged a resumption of dialogue. North Korea, however, has said little about returning to talks since Chairman Kim Jong Un declared in April that he would give the Trump administration until the end of the year to change its approach to negotiations or face a "bleak and very dangerous" situation.

Photo: Chair Syed Hussin addresses the 2019 NPT PrepCom. Credit: Alicia Sanders-Zakre, Arms Control Association.

Fiddling While the Nuclear Arms Control Architecture Collapses

Viewpoint by Tariq Rauf

Just as the senators of Rome fiddled away while the city burned, today’s diplomats seem helpless in averting the total collapse of nuclear arms control thus paving the way for a dangerous new nuclear arms race with increased risks of accidental or deliberate use of nuclear weapons. Tariq Rauf was Alternate Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) NPT Delegation 2002-2010, and has attended all NPT meetings as an official delegate since 1987 through 2019. Personal views are expressed here.

NEW YORK (IDN) – The third and final session of the Preparatory Committee (PrepCom) for the 2020 Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) fizzled out in disagreements over the pace and extent of nuclear disarmament at United Nations headquarters in New York.

Photo: 2020 NPT Review Conference Chair Argentine Ambassador Rafael Grossi addressing the third PrepCom. IDN-INPS Collage of photos by Alicia Sanders-Zakre, Arms Control Association.

Nuclear Non-Proliferation Review Conference Could Hit a U.S. Roadblock

By Shanta Roy

NEW YORK (IDN) – The Trump Administration, which has been recklessly wielding a wrecking ball against multilateral treaties, will be put to a test next year when the 1970 Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) will be up for review at the 2020 conference scheduled to take place in New York in April-May.

"We have a lot of work to do, especially since next year is the 50th anniversary of the NPT," Malaysian Ambassador Syed Mohamad Hasrin Aidid, who chaired the preparatory committee (PrepCoM) sessions, which concluded May 10, told the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the sidelines of the PrepCom.