In this issue: Commitments to disarmament and arms control ; Country Reports ; Missile Defence ; Other Public
Middle East
Iran update: number 115
Summary
- Iran's Parliamentary Elections
- UN Security Council imposed a third round of sanctions on Iran
- IAEA releases report on Iran's nuclear past
- IAEA Board presented with intelligence on alleged Iranian weaponisation studies – Iran claims evidence is forged
- Israel will not strike Iran without an ally.
On March 14th, Iran held parliamentary elections for the 290-seat, Majles-e-Shura-ye-Eslami, the Islamic Consultative Assembly.
BASIC in Tehran
BASIC Co-Executive Director, Paul Ingram, is to present two papers seeking to change the frame of the international debate over Iran's nuclear program to an international conference on the subject in Tehran on 9th March, hosted by the Institute for Political and International Studies (IPIS), a think-tank closely associated with the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic. One is entitled Iran's Role in Moving Towards a Nuclear Weapon Free World, the other Other solutions to Iran's Energy Insecurity.
Toward true security
Some eight years into the 21st century, the threats to international security posed by the numbers, deployments and spread of nuclear weapons remain all too ominous. Disconcertingly, the possibility of a surprise attack – perhaps a tragic miscalculation or a criminal action – is an ongoing reality some six decades into the nuclear age.
Iran update: number 114
Summary
- US: Iran must confess to making nuclear bomb
- Iran tests faster centrifuges with uranium
- IAEA report could be delayed by disagreement between Elbaradei and his staff
- Iran's Missile tests alarm international community
On Friday Gregory Schulte, chief US delegate to the IAEA demanded that Iran confess to trying to make nuclear weapons prior to 2003.
Iran update: number 113
Summary
- P5+1 agree new wave of sanctions on Iran
- Iran predicts it will be using nuclear power by next year
- A Chinese military base in Iran: the geo-political consequences
- US Iranians oppose military action
- Congress discusses normalizing relations with Iran and assessing the effectiveness of sanctions and the policy of isolation
After meeting on January 22, the P5+1 were reported to have agreed a draft for strengthening the existing economic sanctions against Iran.
Iran update: number 112
Summary
- P5+1 met on January 22 to discuss Iran but disagreement within the group set to hinder progress.
- US diplomacy against Iran
- Iran making new disclosures about nuclear programme to IAEA.
- Iran receives third shipment of nuclear fuel from Russia and plans to significantly expand nuclear programme.