This factsheet outlines the answers some very frequently asked and core questions about nuclear weapons.…
Content Type
Why It’s Impossible to Hide Nuclear Work in 24 Days — Or 24 Years
“One of the most misleading distortions being floated by political opponents of the Iran nuclear deal is the “24-day” loophole meme: Iran would be able to hide all evidence of any nefarious nuclear weapons work during the 24 days it may take inspectors to gain access to a suspicious site,” wrote Yousaf Butt in this commentary piece about Iran's nuclear program for Jakarta Globe.
Iran, the JCPoA and the Future of the Non-Proliferation Regime
The non-proliferation regime appears to have stagnated since the previous Review Conference in 2010. It involves deep complexity and relies upon shared norms, but these alone are insufficient for states to have the necessary confidence essential to its success.
Political Considerations of the Iran Deal
A 2007 US National Intelligence Estimate report concluded that Iran had halted any research related to nuclear weapons in 2003. It categorically stated that this was a result of Iran’s cost-benefit approach.
Concern About Iran’s Parchin Facility Not Supported by Images
“With debate flaring in Washington over the July 14 agreement between Iran and world powers, some analysts and politicians say activities at Parchin underline the risks of entering into a deal with the Islamic Republic,” reports Jonathan Tirone from Bloomsberg Business on August 11, 2015.
BASIC executive director, Paul Ingram was quoted in the article as saying: “Parchin is an active site and movement is inevitable. Attempting an impossible cleanup in full view of satellites and just before Congressional votes would be stretching conspiracy theories beyond breaking point.”
Giving Iran too much to lose
‘If Congress wants Iran to be constrained – not only in its nuclear program but also in its actions abroad – then they ought to support the nuclear deal.’ writes BASIC’s senior scientific adviser, Yousaf Butt for the Hill.
“Hiroshima, Nagasaki weren’t cause of Japan’s surrender”: historian Ward Wilson
BASIC Senior Fellow Ward Wilson was interviewed on Russia Today to discuss the 70th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. While the conventional narrative claims that the gruesome event led to the capitulation of Japan and the end of WWII, new evidence suggests that the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not decisive. What implications does this have for the strategy of nuclear deterrence and the value of nuclear weapons in modern geopolitics?
American Exceptionalism and the Folly of Hiroshima
“Seventy years ago, the world fell under the shadow of a nuclear Armageddon, under which it has been living ever since. On August 6 1945, a US B-29 bomber, the “Enola Gay,” dropped the world’s first atomic bomb, innocently named “Little Boy,” on the Japanese city of Hiroshima….” writes Ward Wilson for Sputnik News.
Read the full article on Sputnik News' website here.