2018 September 26 « nuclear-news

Theresa May: Iran continues to uphold commitment to nuclear pact

The Hill, BY BRETT SAMUELS – 09/23/18 British Prime Minister Theresa May said Iran is holding up its end of the nuclear pact that the U.S. withdrew from earlier this year.

“We believe that that should stay in place, and others involved in putting that deal together believe that it should stay in place,” May said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”……..

Tensions between the U.S. and Iran have been heightened in the months since the Trump administration withdrew from the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, which offered Tehran sanctions relief in exchange for abandoning its nuclear program. Trump had decried the pact as the “worst deal ever.”

The U.S. has since reimposed some of the sanctions lifted in the deal, potentially crippling the Iranian economy.

Other signatories of the 2015 agreement — including the United Kingdom, France, Germany, the European Union, Russia and Iran — have pledged to remain committed to the deal.

The U.S. has suggested countries that continue to do business with Iran, such as the United Kingdom, could face sanctions. https://thehill.com/homenews/sunday-talk-shows/407978-theresa-may-iran-continues-to-uphold-commitment-to-nuclear-pact

September 26, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Iran, politics international, UK | Leave a comment

Talks to ban nuclear materials need a fresh start

Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, By Paul Meyer, September 25, 2018, If grades in disarmament diplomacy were given out for perseverance, then Canada would surely merit an “A” for its efforts on behalf of the Fissile Material Cut-off Treaty, or FMCT. Forging this treaty, which would ban the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons, has been a supposed goal of the international community for over half a century. In that time, though, negotiations to bring the treaty about never even started, suggesting that the FMCT is one of those worthy goals that are periodically affirmed without any serious effort to realize them. And though Canada has traditionally led efforts to move forward on the treaty, the Canadian-led group most recently charged with supporting future negotiations has submitted a report that deserves a failing grade.

This is unfortunate, because the FMCT, if it ever happens, could have a major impact on reducing nuclear proliferation. The problem is that the 25-member preparatory group asked to facilitate the task of future negotiators has recommended that “the negotiation of a treaty … begin without delay in the Conference on Disarmament.” This is not a realistic solution, as anyone familiar with the Conference on Disarmament knows it does not act “without delay” on anything. It simply does not get things done. To initiate work on the FMCT will require its liberation from this diplomatic dungeon……..

To initiate work on the FMCT will require it to be freed from the constraints of the Conference on Disarmament and granted a fresh start under the authority of a diplomatic body not subject to the veto of any one state. This might be best achieved via a UN General Assembly resolution. Alternatively, a group of concerned states—such as the five official nuclear weapon states under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, or some other group that possesses fissile material—could undertake ad hoc negotiations.

Until the political will can be generated for such concrete action, the disarmament community should avoid exercises in treading water like the recent FMCT preparatory group. However well-intended, they only provide an illusion of progress, and further erode the credibility of the global nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime. https://thebulletin.org/2018/09/talks-to-ban-nuclear-materials-need-a-fresh-start/

September 26, 2018 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Canada, weapons and war | Leave a comment