IRAN
Reuters
Forthcoming July 14, 2013
"Suspension of Nuclear Activities Is Not End of Diversion Risks"
Conference Paper
By David Nusbaum, Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program
A long-standing goal of diplomacy with Iran is persuading Iran to suspend its enrichment operations while it clarifies its past activities and while negotiations proceed on a more permanent resolution to the nuclear crisis. However, there is problem in using suspension of nuclear material production as a negotiating step: The technical details of suspension have never been clearly defined. The international community needs to be aware of the diversion risks during a suspension of enrichment activities and should mitigate these risks by including the necessary verification measures during negotiations and signing of any agreement on suspension.
AP Images
June 11, 2013
Belfer Center Perspectives On Iran
In the News
As debate over Iran's nuclear program intensifies, Belfer Center experts on Iran have been interviewed and quoted in numerous media reports and have written opinion pieces on the issues involved. Here are recent published perspectives.
Jun 10, 2013
"On Iran's Nuclear Program, Obama Should Take a Cue From JFK and 'Go First'"
Op-Ed, Christian Science Monitor
By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
"Fifty years ago, President John F. Kennedy delivered a commencement address at American University whose message echoes down the decades to the challenges America faces today – including the challenge of Iran."
Jun 10, 2013
"Bold Initiatives to Reduce Tensions – 50 Years Ago and Today"
Op-Ed, Power & Policy Blog
By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom
"The fundamental idea that conciliatory actions can help overcome mistrust and misperceptions is as applicable today as it was a half century ago. And certainly the U.S.-Iranian standoff is one of many challenges desperately in need of an approach for beginning to roll back the distorted perceptions that make it so difficult to find whether any genuine common ground exists."
Associated Press
June 5, 2013
"US is Syria’s only hope"
Op-Ed, Boston Globe
By Nicholas Burns, Professor of the Practice of Diplomacy and International Politics, Harvard Kennedy School
Given the recent surge of assistance being given to the Assad regime by Hezbollah, Iran, and Russia, Professor Burns sees this as a call to action for US intervention, which, he argues, may be Syria's only hope at this point.
iStock Photo
May 28, 2013
"The New and the Ordinary in the Middle East"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
Every once in a while the Middle East region experiences a series of major and simultaneous developments in several different arenas, indicating that something important is taking place. We are passing through just such a moment this week, with quite dramatic developments in Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Palestine-Israel, Iran, Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and several Arabian Peninsula states, without any sign of what is truly historic and new and what is a passing phenomenon.
May 22, 2013
"Hezbollah's Moment of Reckoning in Qusayr"
Op-Ed, Agence Global
By Rami Khouri, Senior Fellow, Middle East Initiative
The battle for Qusayr is only the haphazard spark within the larger Syrian war that could ignite this fire. The real causes of this combustible condition of the Arab region remain the dysfunction of modern Arab states and central governments, the ascendancy of police states and military regimes, the repercussions of the century-long Zionism-Arabism conflict, and the continuing status of the Middle East as a proxy battleground for regional and foreign powers.
AP Images
May 15, 2013
"U.S. Action in Syria Could Sway Iran on Nukes"
Op-Ed, Bloomberg View
By Meghan L. O'Sullivan, Jeane Kirkpatrick Professor of the Practice of International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad must be pleased at how, within a week, the conversation has shifted from his regime’s alleged use of chemical weapons to an international peace conference on Syria’s civil war.
May 2013 Update
Nuclear Iran: A Glossary of Terms
Report
By Simon Henderson and Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
At a time when the possibility of military action against Iran's nuclear program is being debated, the need for a clear understanding of the issues and the controversial science and technology behind them has never been more acute. Toward that end, the Washington Institute and Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs have copublished an interactive online glossary of terms used in the discussion about Iran, prepared by proliferation expert Simon Henderson and Olli Heinonen, former deputy director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
May 18, 2013
"Why a Middle East Role is Essential for the Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime"
Op-Ed, GlobalPost
By Tytti Erästö, Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom and Sven-Eric Fikenscher, Research Fellow, International Security Program/Project on Managing the Atom
"In the worst case, suspicions about the Iranian nuclear program persist, and the futile war of words between Iran and Israel is taken to a new, multilateral context. In the best case, however, Iran's participation can increase regional actors' confidence in its intentions — a development that could also alleviate Israeli concerns and have a positive effect on the P5+1-Iran negotiations."
