Iran has threatened a third breach of limits imposed on its nuclear program by the JCPOA, and a recent IAEA report poses questions about Tehran’s cooperation with the Agency’s safeguards inspections. European efforts to salvage the Iran Deal have come to a standstill. Complicating matters further, the United States and the E3 have blamed Iran for a September attack on a Saudi Arabian oil refinery.

This new report is the fourth in a series that assesses the extent to which 11 key states are fulfilling, promoting, or undermining 10 standards identified as critical elements of the nonproliferation and disarmament regime. Collectively, states fared worse on the majority of criteria when compared with the prior edition covering the 2013–2016 period.

On January 27, Israel’s permanent representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), Merav Zafary-Odiz, spoke of the country's commitment to a moratorium on nuclear testing and potential future ratification of the CTBT.