Verification

John Kerry and Benjamin Netanyahu July 2014

Will diplomacy prevail?

U.S. President Barack Obama will meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today on the sidelines of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) annual conference. Netanyahu announced that the conversation would include the the P5+1 (U.S., UK, Russia, China, France, and Germany) and Iranian nuclear negotiations, which will continue this week at the technical level in Vienna.

Building Capacity for a WMD-Free Middle East

BASIC held in Washington, DC a private roundtable discussion with experts on both nuclear weapons issues and the Middle East, to discuss potential for progress on a WMD-free zone in the region. This paper highlights, in summary form, the key points discussed during the meeting which followed Chatham House Rules.

Building Capacity for a WMD-Free Middle East*

WMD-free zones have already been successfully established elsewhere in the world, including in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean, the South Pacific and South East Asia. Rich expertise exists from the establishment of those zones, both on navigating political blockages and on developing the necessary technical capacity to deliver an agreement, which could provide valuable lessons for the Middle East. This article reviews the potential utility of focusing on the technical capacity that would be needed to support a WMD-Free Zone in the Middle East.

Iran-making the deal work

Today marks the start of implementing the interim deal with Iran, which will halt the development of its nuclear programme for six months in exchange for limited sanctions relief from the international community. Since the interim deal was struck in November 2013, the parties have been working together to agree on the terms of implementation.

The OPCW and Syria: learning the lessons of verification

Verification remains a key challenge on the road to nuclear disarmament and the continued non-proliferation of WMD. It is complex, politically and technically, and ultimately can only be sustainable in the long run if it is freely entered into, non-discriminatory, universally applicable and credible. Does the OPCW hold lessons for confidence in multilateral nuclear disarmament?

Talking about the Bomb in Tel Aviv

Elzbieta Okuniewska published “Talking about the Bomb in Tel Aviv” for the Palestine-Israel Journal which covers the roundtable discussion that BASIC jointly organised with the Green Cross, the Israeli Disarmament Movement, and IKV Pax Christi. Paul Ingram shared his experience working with Iran on nuclear issues while BASIC senior fellow Ward Wilson presented narratives around rethinking nuclear weapons.