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Arms Control Now Blog
Authored by on June 26, 2020
A new report authored by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres details evidence of Iran’s likely violation of the arms-related and ballistic missile transfer-related provisions of Security Council resolution 2231 (2015). Resolution 2231 endorses and helps implement the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, formally called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which the United States withdrew from in May 2018, and modifies UN sanctions on Iran. As the Trump Administration bids to strengthen its maximum pressure campaign against Iran, it will likely use the Secretary-General’s report as…
Authored by on June 15, 2020
Authored by on June 10, 2020
North Korea Announces Plans to Boost Nuclear DeterrentNorth Korean leader Kim Jong Un presided over a May 24 meeting of the Seventh Central Military Committee of the Worker’s Party of Korea, who discussed national efforts to bolster the country’s armed forces, including “new policies for further increasing the nuclear war deterrence of the country and putting the strategic armed forces on high alert.” According to a statement released that day by the state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA), officials worked to refine a strategy to “reliably contain the persistent big or small military…
Authored by on June 10, 2020
Authored by on June 8, 2020
In a June 5 report on Iran’s safeguards agreement, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) provided additional detail about the agency's investigation into possible undeclared nuclear materials and activities tied to Iran's past nuclear weapons development efforts and noted that Tehran has yet to comply with the agency’s requests for information and access. Given the information provided in the report, it appears likely that Iran violated its safeguards obligations by storing nuclear materials from its pre-2003 illict weaponization work at locations that were not declared to the IAEA…
Authored by on June 8, 2020
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) June 5 report assessing Iran’s compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal noted that Tehran’s stockpile of low enriched uranium continues to increase beyond limits set by the accord, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). While the stockpile growth is concerning, the IAEA report states that Iran continues to comply with the JCPOA’s monitoring and verification measures, which provide assurance that if Tehran were to take further steps to violate the deal or dash toward a bomb, its activities would be quickly detected. In short…
Authored by on June 5, 2020
Images and videos from across the country are capturing the horrific results of police decisions to use toxic chemicals against protestors demanding justice for the murder of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis and systemic changes to address racism in the United States. In one high-profile incident on June 1, federal law enforcement used tear gas, along with other measures, to drive back peaceful protestors so President Donald Trump could pose for a photo in front of a church. While international law permits the use of tear gas by law enforcement, it is undeniably immoral…
Authored by on June 4, 2020
The Trump administration reportedly weighed whether to conduct a nuclear test explosion during a May 15 meeting with national security agencies. The United States has not conducted a nuclear test since 1992, and no other nuclear-armed country besides North Korea has conducted such a test since 1998.If the United States chooses to conduct a nuclear test, it would undoubtedly invite other nuclear-armed countries to do the same and launch a new nuclear arms race.The Washington Post first reported on this meeting on May 22. The administration did not make a final decision, with a senior…
Authored by on June 1, 2020
Authored by on June 1, 2020