ARMAMENTS

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).

: UN Bureau; THE WORLD; USA and Canada; 14 June 2019

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.

: Ramesh Jaura; GLOBAL GOVERNANCE; CTBTO; 29 May 2019

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.

: Asia Editor; THE WORLD; Asia-Pacific; 24 May 2019

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.”

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 24 May 2019

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.

: J C Suresh; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 22 May 2019

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.

: UN Bureau; OPINION; 19 May 2019

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.

: Shanta Roy; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 18 May 2019

Graphic credit: Coalition for Peace Action

Human Survival Lies in the Balance as the Charade of NPT Diplomacy is Wearing Thin

Viewpoint by Dr Joseph Gerson*

NEW YORK (IDN) – Expectations for the outcome of this year’s NPT Preparatory Committee were low at best. Not surprisingly, given the nuclear powers’ reliance on their genocidal and omnicidal arsenals and pressures building for nuclear weapons proliferation, these expectations were not exceeded. As the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has warned, humanity is now as close to nuclear apocalypse as it was at the height of the Cold War.

: UN Bureau; ARMAMENTS; Nuclear Weapons; 16 May 2019

Photo: Press Briefing by Syed Hasrin Syed Hussin (right), Chair of the Third Preparatory Committee for the 2020 NPT Review Conference, on May 10, 2019 at the UN Headquarters in New York. Credit: Katsuhiro Asagiri | IDN-INPS

Malaysian Diplomat Shows Courage on Way to Landmark NPT Review Conference

Viewpoint by Ray Acheson

This article first appeared as Editorial in NPT News in Review, Vol. 16, No. 7 on May 10, 2019. The writer is the Director of Reaching Critical Will – the disarmament programme of the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom (WILPF). She represents WILPF on several coalition steering groups, including the 2017 Nobel Laureate International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Ray is a 2018 UN Women Metro-NY "Champion of Change". – The Editor

NEW YORK (IDN-INPS) – Standing up to bullies is always hard. It takes courage and resilience. Ambassador Syed Hussin of Malaysia and his team demonstrated this in spades. They listened to vehement criticisms from nuclear-armed states for the revised draft recommendations.

: Ramesh Jaura; OPINION; 13 May 2019

Mayors for Peace Call for a Common Ground on the NPT

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK (IDN) – In anticipation of the review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) in 2020 at the United Nations, the Mayors for Peace have in a Joint Appeal called for finding a "common ground on the NPT"; because the global interest embodied in the NPT is in the national interests of all countries and all peoples worldwide.