Nuclear Arms Control?

[Merlin]

The IAEA Chief's job is very important as well as politically very difficult.

(I thought he was supposed to step down 6 months ago?)

IAEA chief, Israel lock horns over Syria

VIENNA (AFP) — UN watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei sparred with an Israeli envoy on Thursday after being accused of bias in the handling of an investigation into Syria's nuclear activities, diplomats said.

The United States meanwhile accused Syria of obstructing the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) probe into allegations that it was building a secret nuclear reactor at a site that was bombed by Israeli jets in September 2007.

Israeli ambassador Israel Michaeli made his accusation to ElBaradei during a debate on Syria at a meeting of the IAEA's 35-member board.

Michaeli urged ElBaradei, an Egyptian, "to avoid political bias in dealing with Syria's nuclear file."

ElBaradei has frequently hit out at Israel for not informing the IAEA of its concerns about the suspect site in Syria before bombing it.

"Israel has responded timely and in good faith to the question addressed to it regarding the possible origin of the uranium particles, traced in the site of the nuclear reactor in Dair Alzour," Michaeli said in remarks, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.

Traces of uranium were found at the site -- known alternatively as Dair Alzour or Al-Kibar -- which Damascus claims came from the Israeli bombs that razed the building.

"Therefore the repeated calls by the director general on Israel to cooperate with this investigation are redundant," the envoy added, accusing ElBaradei of "publicly bashing at Israel."

The IAEA chief was angered by Michaeli's remarks, and according to a transcript of his comments obtained by AFP, described the Israeli envoy's statement as "totally distorted."

"We work here in an organisation that is an organisation of international law. We apply international law, not selectively, but across the board," ElBaradei said.

"When Israel took it upon itself to destroy a facility, what was claimed to be a nuclear facility, without giving the agency the opportunity to verify that ... this was not only making it almost impossible for us to establish the facts, but it was a clear violation of international law," he said.

While the Israeli envoy had said Syria should be "deplored and condemned... Israel, with its action, is deplored by not allowing us to do what we are supposed to do under international law," ElBaradei continued.

Israel "is not even a member of the regime to tell us what tools are available to us," ElBaradei said, referring to Israel's refusal to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

"We would appreciate it if you could stop preaching to us how we can do our jobs." ....

Israel is widely considered to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear armed state. ....

[Merlin]

The IAEA Chief's job is very important as well as politically very difficult.

(I thought he was supposed to step down 6 months ago?)

The IAEA is now going through the process of electing a new head. The new head Amano, from Japan, will take over in November.

U.N. nuclear watchdog agency elects new head

9 hrs ago (CNN) -- The United Nations nuclear watchdog agency elected Yukiya Amano as its new director general Thursday, it announced. Amano, of Japan, will replace the current director general, Mohammed ElBaradei, as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, in November.

The Vienna-based agency aims to guarantee that nuclear programs are not used to build weapons, and helps national governments promote nuclear safety and security. ....

Amano is a career diplomat specializing in arms control, according to his biography on the IAEA Web site. He chaired the organization's board of governors between 2005-06.

[Merlin]

They have taken the first step.

U.S.-Russia Nuclear Agreement Is First Step in Broad Effort

6 July [NYTimes] MOSCOW — President Obama signed an agreement on Monday to cut American and Russian strategic nuclear arsenals by at least one-quarter, a first step in a broader effort intended to reduce the threat of such weapons drastically and to prevent their further spread to unstable regions.

Mr. Obama, on his first visit to Russia since taking office, and President Dmitri A. Medvedev agreed on the basic terms of a treaty to reduce the number of warheads and missiles to the lowest levels since the early years of the cold war. .

The new treaty, to be finished by December, would be subject to ratification by the Senate and could then lead to talks next year on more substantial reductions. ...

Mr. Obama hailed the arms agreement as an example for the world as he pursued a broader agenda aimed at countering — and eventually eliminating — the spread of nuclear weapons, a goal he hopes to make a defining legacy of his presidency.

While the United States and Russia together have 95 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons, Mr. Obama also views Russia as an influential player in deterring nuclear programs in Iran and North Korea. ....

[Merlin]

This is the next step. (You can disregard the tone of the tabloid paper title below.)

Brown's nuke strike on Iran

Today [Sun] GORDON Brown and Barack Obama last night ordered a nuclear weapons showdown - to stop them spreading to rogue states like Iran.

The PM and the US President summoned up to 30 world leaders to Washington next spring for a crunch nuke summit.

It will see the nuclear powers agree to slash their stockpiles of weapons - if other states agree not to build any.

Under the new rules, rogue nations who sign up to the deal would have to prove to inspectors they had no nukes.

Iran, which has signed the non-proliferation treaty banning the spread of the weapons, would have to open its doors. ...

Nine nations have nukes - the UK, US, France, Israel, Russia, China, Pakistan, India and North Korea. Others, including Iran and some African nations, are trying to build them.

Mr Brown said Britain would reduce its arsenal of 160 Tridents only if ALL the other nuclear powers cut the numbers of their warheads.

President Obama and Russian President Dmitri Medvedev agreed to slash their countries' stockpiles last week. ...

At least 30 countries are expected to attend the summit ...

The agreement will also see the nuclear weapons powers helping others like Iran develop atomic energy if they vow to steer clear of arms. ....

[Merlin]

The key man in any effort for global effort in nuclear arms control is of course Obama. And this WSJ article explains how he has moved this to the top of the national-security agenda.

Obama Puts Arms Control at Core of New Strategy

15 July [WSJ] WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has moved nuclear deterrence to the top of the national-security agenda -- and in his dealings in the past month with Iran, North Korea and Russia, revealed the issue to be an organizing principle to his foreign policy.

Mr. Obama has restarted moribund arms talks with Moscow, pushed for sanctions against Pyongyang, and sought nuclear talks with Tehran despite his condemnation of its crackdown on protesters. Those moves, significant shifts from policies of the Bush White House, were designed to put efforts to halt the spread of weapons of mass destruction at the center of policy-making, senior Obama administration officials say. ....

Several officials said the White House views President Ronald Reagan as a model, noting that Mr. Reagan engaged with Soviet leaders on arms control even as he condemned their human-rights record. A senior official said White House summit planners examined Mr. Reagan's early meetings with Mikhail Gorbachev for guidance before Mr. Obama met with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week. ....

Current and former Obama foreign-policy advisers said Mr. Obama's emphasis on nuclear arms sprang from his work in the Senate with Sen. Richard Lugar, the Indiana Republican who spearheaded post-Cold War efforts to secure fissile material in the former Soviet Union.

The advisers say that focus has since broadened into an attempt at rebuilding the entire international arms-control regime, particularly the Cold War-era Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and the U.N.'s International Atomic Energy Agency, out of fear that the decades-old controls are weakening from inattention. ....

[Merlin]

This UN Security Council meeting chaired by Obama is historic and special. Resolutions drafted by the US had been circulated, and some amendments had been made.

Obama to chair historic UN council nuclear meeting

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 24 (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama will chair a historic meeting of the United Nations Security Council on Thursday that is expected to ask nations with nuclear weapons to scrap their deadly arsenals.

When the leaders of the 15-nation council gather at U.N. headquarters in midtown Manhattan, Obama will preside over the meeting, the first time a U.S. president has chaired a Security Council summit since the elite panel was established in 1946.

Diplomats said council members were expected to unanimously adopt a U.S.-drafted resolution that declares there is a "need to pursue further efforts in the sphere of nuclear disarmament" and urges all countries that have not signed the 1970 nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) to do so.

The council meeting, which takes place on the second day of the annual U.N. General Assembly session, will be the fifth time the Security Council has met at the level of heads of state and government. It will also be the first council summit to focus exclusively on nuclear proliferation and disarmament.

The first Security Council summit was on Jan. 31, 1992, and was chaired by British Prime Minister John Major. U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Boris Yeltsin, president of the newly created Russian Federation, were among the participants.

The resolution calls for an end to the proliferation of atomic weapons and demands that parties to the NPT keep their promises not to develop atomic warheads. The final draft, obtained by Reuters, has only undergone minor changes since it was circulated to the council two weeks ago. [ID:nB731605]

All five permanent Security Council members -- the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France -- have atom bombs.

But NPT signatories without nuclear arsenals have complained for decades that the world's official nuclear powers have failed to live up to their commitments while seeking to prevent other countries from joining the "nuclear club." .....

[Merlin]

Yes, he got it. The resolution was passed unanimously at the UNSC.

Nuclear-free vision praised

Resolution endorsed in a historic UN session chaired by US leader

25 Sept [StraitsTimes] WASHINGTON - UNITED States President Barack Obama on Wednesday [Singapore time, Thursday NYC time] won unanimous approval from the United Nations Security Council for his key foreign policy objective of building support for a world without nuclear weapons and forestalling the chilling possibility of nuclear-armed terrorists.

It was a historic occasion at the UN headquarters in New York. It was only the fifth time the 15-member Security Council has met at the level of heads of state and government. It was also the first time a US President has presided.

'Although we averted a nuclear nightmare during the Cold War, we now face proliferation of a scope and complexity that demands new strategies and new approaches,' he said, in introducing his resolution.

'Just one nuclear weapon exploded in a city, be it New York or Moscow, Tokyo or Beijing, London or Paris, could kill hundreds of thousands of people.'

Mr Obama called the UN measure 'historic' as it represented 'our shared commitment to a goal of a world without nuclear weapons'.

Significantly, China and Russia - two members which often stymie US initiatives in the Security Council - committed themselves to the resolution's goals.

These include negotiating a new treaty to halt the production of weapons-grade uranium and plutonium, and retooling the decades-old Non-Proliferation Treaty, which has not been effective in checking the spread of nuclear weapons.

Washington has argued that a new thrust for non-proliferation and disarmament is called for because nuclear-bomb technology has spread, creating the prospect of arms races and increasing the chances of terrorists buying, building or stealing a nuclear weapon.

The ambitious and multi-pronged initiative also contains support for another key agreement, the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty. The treaty, adopted by the General Assembly in 1996, has yet to take effect because some countries, including the US, have not ratified it. Mr Obama must put his money where his mouth is by winning Congressional ratification for it. .....

[Merlin]

For some reason, this topic is not of interest to other members of this forum board.

Anyway, the START I treaty between US and Russia has recently expired recently on Dec 5, 2009. Both sides are interested to sign a new one with reduction in the number of nuclear warhead and delivery missile. But the draft negotiations are so complex that the draft could not be ready in time.

They say it is very close, perhaps by the end of this year.

Russia, U.S. seen closing in on arms deal

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - In another era, the world's fate could hang in the balance.

U.S. and Russian officials appear tantalizingly close to a new arms deal to replace the 1991 START treaty, the biggest nuclear weapons reduction in history and a lynching in the post-Cold War balance of power.

But despite the public optimism in Washington and Moscow, the existing START treaty lapsed on December 5 with no new agreement in place and officials are still unable to detail when and where the final version may be approved. ....