Towards a WMD-free zone in the Middle East

International concern has been focused on Iran’s uranium enrichment program and Tehran’s potential and intention to develop nuclear weapons. In the Middle East, many leaders and constituencies are worried about the officially unacknowledged nuclear arsenal of Israel, as well as potential future capabilities in other countries.

This project focuses on diplomacy surrounding nuclear programs in the Middle East, with an approach that acknowledges the resolution to the crisis over Iran’s nuclear program can only be reached if the security concerns of Iran and Israel, and other countries in the region, are addressed in a way that avoids perceptions of double-standards. One step in this path is a proposal that already has received formal international support: a WMD-free zone in the Middle East. Work on establishing the zone was a key condition for the indefinite extention of the NPT in 1995, but little was achieved until the 2010 NPT Review Conference agreed to hold a conference on the issue in 2012.

BASIC has consulted, and published reports on the issue, and started a project in 2010 to build support in the context of the 2012 conference, part funded by the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

Below are recent and selected resources related to the subject.

BASIC Program Director Anne Penketh discusses “U.N. scrutiny” of Iran and Israeli nuclear programs
Click here to watch interview with RTV 
(Note: Link goes to article with several videos. Scroll down to third video: “Nuclear Headache”.)
 

          Latest from BASIC

• Hopes Rising for WMD Mideast Meeting, Arms Control Today, April 2012 edition, article by Anne Penketh.

• BASIC organized a workshop on “Nuclear Non-Proliferation in the Gulf”, held in Doha, Qatar from March 21-22, 2012. See the full events page, with photos and audio, and also the conference summary.

• Nuclear Non-Proliferation in the Gulf, Anne Penketh, BASIC This Week, March 19, 2012
   
• BASIC organized events in Cairo from January 29-31, 2012 in preparation for the 2012 conference on a zone free of nuclear weapons and all other WMD in the Middle East.

• BASIC report on Malta workshop on agenda issues before the 2012 conference, held September 8 and 9, 2011, by Paul Ingram.
   
• “Mideast unrest complicates 2012 meeting”: Arms Control Today, March 2011 edition, article by Anne Penketh.
   
• Cairo nuclear forum: Anne Penketh speech: “Promoting the 2012 conference on a WMD-free zone in the Middle East”, October 19, 2010.

• Snap Analysis - Can Middle East WMD-free zone talks happen? Anne Penketh, May 29, 2010. 

• Non-Proliferation requires disarmament and vice versa: Advice to the Iranian Government as it seeks to challenge the nuclear order at the NPT Review Conference, Paul Ingram, BASIC Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference 2010 Papers - 3, April 3, 2010.

• Peeling the Onion: Towards a Middle East nuclear weapons free zone, Anne Penketh, BASIC Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference 2010 Papers - 1, March 18, 2010.

• Iran Update: Summary of recent developments and links to news and comment on the Iranian nuclear program.

Further reading:

• Middle East nuclear weapons free zone subject of panel discussion at the NPT Review Conference (event with BASIC Program Director Anne Penketh, hosted by Greenpeace), May 21, 2010.

• Open letter to the UK Government: New thinking required over Iran’s nuclear programme (PDF), Sir John Thomson, pointing out the need for a new approach and proposing an international enrichment facility in Iran, May 19, 2008.

• Updated NIE Implies Constructive Pragmatism in Tehran, Shervin Boloorean, December 7, 2007.

• Resolving the nuclear dispute with Iran by negotiation, Keith Putnam-Delaney and Paul Ingram, BASIC Notes, September 1, 2006. 

• The Iranian Nuclear Crisis: A Risk Assessment, Sir John Thomson, BASIC Project on Preventive Engagement with Iran Discussion paper Series, No. 2, March 2007.

• General, you have the advantage of Time: Iran’s Response to the U.S. Military Option, Col. Sam Gardiner, BASIC Project on Preventive Engagement with Iran Discussion paper Series, No. 1, February 2007.

• The Proliferation Security Initiative: Targeting Iran and North Korea? Richard Bond, BASIC Paper, January 2007. 

• Raising the stakes: Iran’s resumption of nuclear activities, Andreas Persbo, BASIC Notes, September 20, 2005.