**Updated May 16, 2022** By Samuel M. Hickey We will update this page as new questions and information arise, and you can submit questions to be answered by tweeting at @nukes_of_hazard. Iran Deal Specifics What did the Iran deal accomplish? Under the Iran deal, why can’t Iran build a secret nuclear bomb? Will sanctions relief allow […]
Factsheets on Iran Diplomacy
How to Accelerate Nuclear Diplomacy With Iran
By Samuel M. Hickey As diplomats break in the middle of the eighth round of talks to revive the Iran nuclear deal, known formally as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), there remains a clear sense that the pace of diplomacy lags dangerously behind Iran’s advancing nuclear program. A Senior State Department official briefing […]
Status and Prospects of Iranian Nuclear Negotiations
By Samuel Hickey Iran’s nuclear program continues to expand and become less transparent with Iran limiting UN inspectors’ access to nuclear sites. Further, there remain monitoring disputes separate from the deal over access to Iranian facilities that has led the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog to complain about an “astonishing” lack of communication. The urgency for […]
Breaking down the jargon: nuclear programs, uranium and plutonium
By Samuel M. Hickey According to the Critical Issues poll done by the University of Maryland, a large majority of Americans across the political spectrum believe that Iran possesses nuclear weapons. It does NOT. Iran conducts nuclear research, contrary to its international commitments, into technologies with weapons applications, but it has not yet taken steps […]
Diplomatic standoff between Tehran and Washington: What has happened?
By Genevieve Hackman In the past month, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) came to two agreements with Iran that create space for diplomatic engagement with the United States. While both Washington and Tehran are in difficult domestic positions, playing to domestic audiences that disapprove of “weak” policy on the other, the determined work of […]