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“Over the past 50 years, ACA has contributed to bridging diversity, equity, inclusion and that's by ensuring that women of color are elevated in this space.”
– Shalonda Spencer
Women of Color Advancing Peace, Security, and Conflict Transformation
June 2, 2022
Editor's Note
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Miles A. Pomper

Few would disagree that if Iran were to obtain nuclear weapons, it would represent an extraordinarily destabilizing development in an already shaky region. So how close is Iran to obtaining such arms, and what can be done to prevent it from doing so?

David Albright and Jacqueline Shire attempt to answer these questions in this month’s cover story. They conclude that Iran could have the “breakout capability” to produce weapons-grade nuclear material by late spring 2008. Nonetheless, they oppose bombing Iranian nuclear facilities, saying this might do little but spur Iran to take the final steps for making a nuclear weapon. Instead, they argue for tightening sanctions and engaging in direct diplomacy.

The Bush administration has cited Iran’s nuclear weapons potential as its justification for building a missile defense system in Europe. But as Richard Speier notes, the United States and other members of the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR) have not done enough to mesh such systems with the MTCR. In particular, Speier argues that the MTCR should be broadened to prevent exports of countermeasures that might help countries such as Iran penetrate ballistic missile defenses. He also urges that exports of large missile defense interceptors, such as those proposed for Europe, be kept under a unified command-and-control system.

The United States and other countries also are worried that terrorists might acquire nuclear and other highly dangerous weapons. That concern led to the passage of UN Security Council Resolution 1540 in 2004, mandating that countries work against this threat and report on what they have done to a special UN committee. This issue features an interview with that committee’s head, Ambassador Peter Burian of Slovakia.

Our news section this month includes an article by Peter Crail on an agreement to disable North Korea’s plutonium-production facilities and declare all of its nuclear programs. It also contains an analysis by Jeff Abramson of small arms and light weapons trade declarations submitted to the UN Register of Conventional Arms.

In our “Looking Back,” Trevor Findlay examines the past and future development of International Atomic Energy Agency safeguards 10 years after the negotiation of the Model Additional Protocol. Findlay says that the current questions about Iran, for example, show both the progress that has been made and the limitations that remain in ensuring that peaceful nuclear programs are not diverted to military purposes.

Finally, we mourn the loss of someone who truly understood the value of peaceful research in nuclear physics and the horrific dangers of nuclear weapons. Wolfgang “Pief” Panofsky was a frequent contributor to Arms Control Today and a friend of the Arms Control Association. He will be missed.