Digests and Blog

This bulletin highlights significant events in the world of arms control in the coming days,as compiled by staff and friends of the Arms Control Association. For more news and analysis on these and other weapons-related security issues, consider subscribing to ACA's monthly journal Arms Control Today. The entire January/February 2014 issue is now available online for all ACA members and digital subscribers. – the Editors at Arms Control Today P5+1 and Iran Resolve Issues on Implementation of Nov. 24 First Phase Deal Earlier today in Geneva, negotiators announced they had resolved the…

This bulletin highlights significant events in the world of arms control in the coming days, as compiled by staff and friends of the Arms Control Association. For more news and analysis on these and other weapons-related security issues, consider subscribing to ACA's monthly journal Arms Control Today. Available in print/digital and digital-only subscriptions. -- the Editors at Arms Control Today Negotiators Close to Iran Accord Diplomats from world powers and Iran say they are close to reaching agreement on the implementation steps for their first phase agreement on pausing key elements of…

Okay folks. It is that time of the year. The sun is low in the northern hemisphere; holiday-driven shopping is in full swing; Congress has finally left Washington DC at peace; you are drinking more eggnog than you should; NORAD is working to put a shine on its image by tracking Santa (while still looking out for Russian nuclear-armed ICBMs); the Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded; holiday cards are arriving; and ... the Arms Control Association's Arms Control Person of the Year balloting is open! Every year since 2007, ACA's staff has nominated several individuals and institutions that best…

By Greg Thielmann "The first concern, of course, is [the Iranians'] continuing development of intercontinental ballistic missiles." –Rep. Lloyd "Ted" Poe (R-TX) 12/10/13 "Many of us believe that the policies of this administration are putting the American people at risk, our allies at risk...with the missile capability that Iran has..." –Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) 12/10/13 Given the gravity of scenarios involving Iranian nuclear-armed intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs), the American people must keep a watchful eye out for such a threat emerging. Public officials charged with providing…

This bulletin highlights significant events in the world of arms control in the coming days, as compiled by staff and friends of the Arms Control Association. For more news and analysis on these and other weapons-related security issues, consider subscribing to ACA's monthly journal Arms Control Today. Available in print/digital and digital-only subscriptions. - the Editors at Arms Control Today Inspectors to Visit Iran Nuclear Facility on Dec. 8 UN inspectors are scheduled to visit the Arak heavy-water production plant on Dec. 8 for the first time in more than two years. Iran is opening the…

OPCW Headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands By Daryl G. Kimball (The Hague, Netherlands) -- This week diplomats from the member states of the 1997 Chemical Weapons Convention met for four days at the headquarters of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for their 18th Conference of States Parties. The meeting itself went smoothly and Ahmet Üzümcü was re-appointed by acclamation for a second term as OPCW Director-General. But this was no ordinary meeting of the OPCW states parties. It was the first since the horrific sarin gas attacks killed over 1,000 civilians on the…

By Kelsey Davenport Mohamed ElBaradei speaks at a press conference during his tenure as Director-General of the IAEA. The United Nations Security Council has adopted six resolutions as part of the international community's efforts to address Iran's controversial nuclear program. Collectively, these resolutions require that Iran suspend its most-proliferation sensitive activities and encourage Tehran to work with the international community on a negotiated solution that ensures that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful. The Security Council took up consideration of Iran's nuclear program in…

This bulletin highlights significant events in the world of arms control in the coming days, as compiled by staff and friends of the Arms Control Association. For more news and analysis on these and other weapons-related security issues, consider subscribing to ACA's monthly journal Arms Control Today. Available in print/digital and digital-only subscriptions. - the Editors at Arms Control Today OPCW Conference of States Parties, Dec. 2-6 in The Hague The general conference of states parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention will meet at the headquarters of the Organisation for the…

This bulletin highlights significant events in the world of arms control in the coming week, as compiled by staff and friends of the Arms Control Association. (Send your suggestions for events to be covered here.) - the Editors at Arms Control Today Iran Talks to Resume in Geneva Negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Russia, United Kingdom, United States, and Germany) resume in Geneva on Nov. 20. The two sides appear to be very close to a "first phase" agreement that would pause Iran's nuclear progress and address the most urgent activities of proliferation concern in…

As the most recent round of negotiations between Iran and the P5+1 (China, France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) wound down on November 10, an unlikely player emerged center-stage in the press coverage of the negotiations: the Arak heavy water reactor. The Arak reactor represents a potential second pathway for Iran to produce fissile material for nuclear weapons. Heavy water reactors are particularly well-suited for plutonium production, which must be separated from the radioactive spent fuel of the reactor if it is to be used for weapons. For this reason, the…