Press Room

(Washington, D.C.) Amid rising tensions over Iran's nuclear program, the key parties engaged in the issue have all said they are interested in a diplomatic solution to the current impasse. In a letter on behalf of the P5+1 last October, European Union High Representative Catherine Ashton called on Iran to return to serious talks on the nuclear file. Iranian officials have said they are ready for talks and are preparing a formal response.

(Washington, D.C.) At 2 p.m. today, the Pentagon is scheduled to release major budget decisions stemming from its Jan. 5 strategic guidance review, which states that: "It is possible that our deterrence goals can be achieved with a smaller nuclear force, which would reduce the number of nuclear weapons in our inventory as well as their role in U.S. national security strategy."

By Daryl G. Kimball and Tom Z. Collina

The following piece was originally published in The Christian Science Monitor on January 19, 2012.

In order to reach its goal of at least $480 billion in Pentagon savings over the next decade, the Obama administration must scale back previous schemes for a new generation of strategic nuclear weapons delivery systems.

(Washington, D.C.) Kathi Lynn Austin garnered the highest number of votes in an online poll to determine the "2011 Arms Control Persons of the Year." Nine other individuals and institutions were nominated by the staff of the Arms Control Association for their achievements and contributions.

(Washington, D.C.) The Obama administration entered office in 2009 seeking both to maintain pressure on Iran to comply with its nonproliferation obligations and to engage Tehran in a renewed dialogue on confidence-building measures to allay concerns about the purpose of its nuclear program.ran in a renewed dialogue on confidence-building measures to allay concerns about the purpose of its nuclear program.

Every year since 2007, ACA's staff has nominated several individuals and institutions that best exemplify leadership and action in pursuing effective arms control solutions.

(Washington, D. C.) Today,  the Indonesian parliament approved the ratification of the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, which bans all nuclear weapons test explosions and establishes a global system for detecting and deterring clandestine test explosions.

(Washington, D.C.) – Twenty-five years ago this month, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev met in Reykjavik, Iceland and moved to the verge of an agreement to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

In their article, “Reykjavik: When Abolition Was Within Reach,” in the October issue of Arms Control Today, Thomas Blanton and Svetlana Savranskaya of the National Security Archive at George Washington University delve into primary-source documents to fill out the historical picture of the October 11-12 summit.

In the midst of proposals for renewing international talks with Iran over the nuclear issue and ahead of the International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) quarterly board meeting in which Iran's cooperation with the agency would again come under fire, Arms Control Today (ACT) interviewed Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran's representative to the IAEA, about the current impasse.

(New York/Washington) -- At a meeting of more than 100 senior government officials at the United Nations to discuss pathways to bring the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty into force, a diverse set of nongovernmental nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament leaders, as well as former government officials and diplomats are calling on all states to translate their words of support for the Treaty into concrete action.

By Hazel R. O'Leary and Daryl G. Kimball

The following piece was originally published in the LA Times on September 14, 2011.

It's been signed and ratified by 154 member countries; the United States is one of just nine key nations that hasn't ratified it. The Senate can change that — and should do so now.

(Washington, D.C.) A Middle Eastern zone free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction “is not only an aspirational goal, but a matter of practical urgency,” Patricia Lewis and William C. Potter of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies say in “The Long Journey Toward a WMD-Free Middle East,” the opening article for a special section of five essays on the zone by nonproliferation and regional experts in the September issue of Arms Control Today.

By Greg Thielmann, Senior Fellow, Arms Control Association

The following piece was originally posted online at The Des Moines Register on August 4, 2011.

Washington is obsessed these days with reducing the deficit. The GOP presidential contenders crisscrossing Iowa give prominence to the issue as well. But even as they call for ever deeper budget cuts, they have been reluctant to look at trimming the $27 billion annual cost of operating and maintaining our bloated Cold War nuclear arsenal and the $125 billion planned for building new weapons in the decade ahead.

By Tom Collina, Research Director, Arms Control Association

The following entry was originally posted on The Hill's Congress Blog on August 2, 2011.

As the dust settles on the just-passed budget deal, one thing is becoming clear: there is now high-level bipartisan agreement that the U.S. defense budget will be reduced in a major way, anywhere from $350 to $850 billion over the next decade, according to the White House. And despite defense hawk grumblings, reductions of this magnitude can actually make America safer by forcing leaders to cancel low-priority programs and focus on the ones that really matter. It’s time to get serious about our top security priorities and cut the dead wood.

(Washington, D.C.) More than two dozen nuclear experts and former senior government officials are calling on NATO "to declare a more limited role for its nuclear capabilities that would help open the way for overdue changes to its Cold War-era policy of forward-basing U.S. tactical nuclear weapons. This would help facilitate another, post-New START round of reductions, which should involve of all types of Russian and U.S. nuclear weapons."

(Washington, D.C.) The director of the independent Arms Control Association praised last week's decision by the 46-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) to tighten its guidelines regarding the transfer of uranium enrichment and spent fuel reprocessing facilities, equipment and technology.

(Washington, D.C.) A report released today on the future of tactical nuclear weapons in Europe finds that upcoming NATO policy decisions about the approximately 180 remaining warheads on five European NATO bases will affect relations among NATO members, and help determine the pace and shape of the next round of U.S.-Russian nuclear arms reductions.

(Washington, D.C.) Marking the second anniversary of President Barack Obama’s historic nuclear policy speech in Prague, Arms Control Today, the journal of the Arms Control Association, conducted an exclusive interview with Gary Samore, White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction terrorism. The interview, which appears in the May issue, is now available to journalists and ACT subscribers.

(Washington, D.C.) A report released today on the first anniversary of the 2010 Nuclear Security Summit finds that states are on track to meeting their commitments  to improve the security of nuclear-weapons usable materials worldwide and reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism.

(Washington, D.C.) As the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) seeks to support President Barack Obama's goals of ratifying the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and preventing nuclear terrorism, Arms Control Today, the journal of the Arms Control Association, has conducted an exclusive interview with NNSA Administrator Thomas D'Agostino. The interview, which will appear in the April issue of the magazine, is now available to journalists and ACT subscribers.