The August 28, 2013 news article in the New York Times namely “Iran Slows Its Gathering of Uranium, Report Says” explains of the new position taken by Iran of slowing down the process of gathering Uranium which could be easily and swiftly converted into fuel for nuclear bombs. In this article, Broad discusses the first report made by international nuclear inspectors since the new president of Iran; Mr Rouhani took office. The international atomic energy agency has detailed in its quarterly report, the plans by Iran to expand the installation of a new generation of unconventional equipment for uranium purification; which, may result in fueling atomic bombs or nuclear reactors. For long, the West has disputed on Iran’s stand that the program is completely peaceful. Since taking office, President Hassan Rouhani has called for the need to be transparent in the nuclear activities as compared to his predecessor. This has been agreed upon and viewed by analysts, to be in agreement with the atomic standoff strongly advocated for by the west. As disclosed in the report, there has been a slow in the accumulation of medium enriched Uranium, which can be significantly attributed to the political calls; the allowed limit (the red line); a point which it has enough purified uranium to fuel a single nuclear weapon). Although, Iran has been installing the new generation of uranium purification machines; which are more efficient than the first generation, no uranium has been introduced into them. Therefore the perceived nuclear threat has in a way remained latent (Broad, 2013).
As presented in this article, there are three main actors namely Iran as a country and two supranational organization or IGOs; the international nuclear inspectors and the international atomic energy agency. The effects of the new Iranian administration led by President Hassan Rouhani, of neutralizing the perceived nuclear threats are examined. A slow in the vertical proliferation of nuclear weapons is disclosed. Instead of purifying more Uranium to be easily used to fuel nuclear reactors, atomic bombs, the new administration has turned its attention to making fuel for a research reactor. As indicated in the report, the administration has open up it plans to the public, enhancing transparency by allowing the international nuclear inspectors to access further information while at the same time taking into account the security concerns of the country. In such a way, the suspicions that Iran is seeking to have nuclear weapons are quelled.
Questions
How effective are the efforts of Russia, UK, France, China and the US in ending the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction?
How significant are regimes in dealing with the global issue of weapon proliferation?
Reference
Broad, W.J. (28 August 2013). “Iran Slows Its Gathering of Uranium, Report Says”. New York Times. Available at http://www.nytimes.com/2013/08/29/world/middleeast/iran-slows- its-gathering-of-uranium-report-says.html?ref=atomicweapons
