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The Death Knell of the Non-Proliferation Regime?

(Jerusalem Post) Ephraim Asculai - On December 2, 2015, International Atomic Energy Agency Director-General Yukiya Amano presented to the IAEA member states his long-awaited report on Iran's Possible Military Dimensions (PMD) of its nuclear program. The report clearly indicted Iran for developing nuclear weapons, contrary to its persistent denials, claims and statements that it never did so, but the world was willing to forgive and forget these serious transgressions of Iran's obligations under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). A state was accused of developing nuclear weapons, was found guilty, and not even a slap on the wrist took place. Yet it would be imprudent not to assume that Iran already has a working nuclear explosive mechanism design, received from Pakistan, the same way Libya did, and its research and development activities were intended to improve this design, not to invent it. The main implication of this event is that any state, even a member of the NPT, can probably develop nuclear weapons with impunity. It will not be punished in any way, especially if it is a threatening, terrorism-supporting state with hegemonic ambitions. The U.S., that was once considered the champion of non-proliferation, aided and abetted in this misdeed. From now on, it will be a free-for-all in the area of proliferation, and it will not really matter whether a state is a party to the NPT or not. The shortsightedness in not daring to deal properly with Iran could be the undoing of the whole world order. The writer, who worked at the Israel Atomic Energy Commission for over 40 years and at the IAEA in Vienna, is a senior research fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies (INSS).
2015-12-21 00:00:00
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