IRAN -- NUCLEAR PROGRAM
May 22, 2012
"The Verification of the Peaceful Nature of Iran's Nuclear Program"
Book Chapter
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
In this chapter, Olli Heinonen examines a decade of actions taken by Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding Iran’s nuclear program. Heinonen suggests a number of measures Iran might take to provide assurance to the international community that it is not developing nuclear weapons. He writes: In tandem with the continued search for a negotiated political solution between the P5+1 and Iran, the IAEA should continue to press for commitments that would provide the best assurances on that Iran’s nuclear program is peaceful. This means that the verification process will have to be comprehensive and expansive. What this also means is that the current stage of unsatisfactory cooperation and approach by Iran to the IAEA needs to change. Given the past experiences, if Iran takes the opportunity of widening those with the following measures, the IAEA will be in a position to provide assurances about the scope of Iran’s nuclear program.
AP Photo
May 21, 2012
"It Plays Well in Tel Aviv, But How Does It Play in Peoria?"
Op-Ed, The Huffington Post
By Charles G. Cogan, Associate, International Security Program
"Invariably, Iranians in and around the academic pressure cooker of Cambridge, Mass. will tell you that the one thing that will not work on the Iranian psyche is threatening language. This may or may not be true. Perhaps we will find out on May 23rd, when the Iranians meet in Baghdad with the West, the Chinese and the Russians on Iran's nuclear program."
Mark Wilson/Getty
May 21, 2012
"How To Avoid a War with Iran"
Op-Ed, Foreign Policy
By Matthew Bunn, Associate Professor of Public Policy; Co-Principal Investigator, Project on Managing the Atom; Co-Principal Investigator, Energy Research, Development, Demonstration, and Deployment (ERD3) Policy Project and Abbas Maleki, Senior Associate, International Security Program
Observers would be forgiven for dismissing negotiations over Iran's nuclear program as Kabuki theater. Despite years of on-again, off-again efforts, after all, fears of war continue to simmer. Such frustrations are understandable -- but they may not be entirely justified.
(AP Photo/Iranian President's Office)
May 24, 2012
"How Close is Iran to Exploding its First Nuclear Bomb?"
Op-Ed, Scientific American
By Graham Allison, Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; Douglas Dillon Professor of Government; Faculty Chair, Dubai Initiative, Harvard Kennedy School
Belfer Center Director Graham Allison writes in Scientific American that while it is unclear whether Iran has decided to develop a nuclear weapon, it has over the past decade been "cautiously, but steadily, putting in place all the elements it needs to construct a nuclear weapon in short order."
Allison argues that the best way to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear bomb might be to "aggressively explore the offer made by Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad last fall to end all enrichment beyond LEU in exchange for the purchase of fuel for its Tehran Research Reactor."
May 2012
"Perceptions and Narratives of Security: The Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps and the Iran-Iraq War"
Discussion Paper
By Annie Tracy Samuel, Research Fellow, International Security Program
This paper explores the importance of the Iran-Iraq War for the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) by analyzing how the Guards have used the war to present their positions on Iran's national security.
Summer 2012
Belfer Center Newsletter Summer 2012
Newsletter
By Sharon Wilke, Associate Director of Communications
The Summer 2012 issue of the Belfer Center newsletter features recent and upcoming activities, research, and analysis by members of the Center community on critical global issues. This edition highlights Belfer Center involvement with the Seoul Nuclear Security Summit and other activities to help shape debate on national and global security. We also spotlight Henry Kissinger’s return to Harvard and his remarks about power and politics, James Baker’s acceptance of the 2012 Great Negotiator Award, and Graham Allison’s cover story in TIME magazine describing decisions behind the raid that killed Osama bin Laden. And more....
Summer 2012
Insight and Analysis: Iran
Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter
A small sampling of Belfer Center perspectives on Iran and the country's nuclear program.
AP Images
May 16, 2012
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.
May 10, 2012
"Isolated from Reality on Iran"
Op-Ed, Foreign Policy, "Shadow Government" Blog
By William H. Tobey, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs
Earlier this week, Vice President Joseph Biden misspoke. Normally, this would not be news. But unlike using obscene language, or confusing which Supreme Court Justice administered his oath of office, or talking about the president's "big stick," this time it matters.
May 9, 2012
"Opening the Door to a Solution with Iran"
Op-Ed
By Olli Heinonen, Senior Fellow, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs and David Albright
The recent nuclear talks with Iran in Istanbul represent a significant gain for the United States. These talks have established a step-by-step, or action-for-action, process to prevent Iran increasing its nuclear weapons capabilities and create confidence that Iran is not on a quest for nuclear weapons. However, success is by no means assured.
