Our Publications
Articles and Reports
January 26, 2005
With the world's attention focused on Iran's nuclear progress-and what to do about it-scant consideration has been given to Iran's chemical weapon and ballistic missile programs. Combined, these pose a more imminent threat than Iran's nascent nuclear effort, and they reveal Iran's continued commitment to developing unconventional weapons. These...
Roundtables
November 19, 2004
It is widely believed that Iran has nuclear weapon ambitions, which it is trying to hide behind a civilian nuclear energy program. The question is whether Iran can be stopped from getting the bomb, given the indigenous capability it has already amassed. If so, which combination of policy tools-diplomacy, inspections, sanctions and the use of force...
Articles and Reports
October 22, 2004
Brazil is planning to commission later this year a uranium enrichment plant that, if configured to do so, could fuel several nuclear weapons annually. As a member of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), Brazil has promised not to make such weapons and is obliged to allow the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to ensure this is the...
Roundtables
April 14, 2004
The present war in Iraq is the first ever fought-at least ostensibly-to counter mass destruction weapons. Although no such weapons have been found inside Iraq's borders, it is still essential to ask whether the war is having a positive or negative impact on the worldwide spread of these arms. Has the war produced a "demonstration effect" that will...
Articles and Reports
February 1, 2004
It is now clear that the Islamic Republic of Iran has been operating a string of secret nuclear sites in violation of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT). In November, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the world organization that is supposed to inspect nuclear sites, passed a resolution condemning Iran for its transgressions and...
Articles and Reports
November 13, 2003
Iran has just revealed that for more than a decade it has been running secret programs to produce plutonium and enriched uranium - the two materials that fuel atomic bombs.
After months of being squeezed by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran finally coughed up this information. The agency, which is responsible for monitoring Iran's...
Articles and Reports
October 23, 2003
With much fanfare, and the reluctant endorsement of the Bush administration, Iran has vowed to suspend its controversial effort to produce enriched uranium - which can be used as fuel in nuclear weapons - and to clear up a host of suspicions about its nuclear program. In exchange, the foreign ministers of Britain, France and Germany promised new "...
Speeches and Testimony
October 16, 2003
In mid-September, the International Atomic Energy Agency gave Iran a deadline. By October 31, Iran is supposed to come clean about its nuclear program. Iran is supposed to explain the traces of highly enriched uranium found at the Natanz site, where Iran is building a plant to enrich uranium with centrifuges, and explain the traces of highly...
Speeches and Testimony
October 1, 2003
I have been asked to describe the world wide missile threat. The first point I would like to make is historical: long range missiles have been developed to carry nuclear weapons. They don't make sense for use with conventional weapons. A country is not going to spend the money to develop a 5,000-mile or 5,000-kilometer missile to knock down a...
Speeches and Testimony
September 17, 2003
I am pleased to appear before this joint committee to discuss Iran's nuclear program and Iran's imports of sensitive technology. I direct the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control, a research organization here in Washington that is devoted to stopping the spread of mass destruction weapons.
I will begin by describing the challenge posed by...