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Opening Iran's national uranium enrichment plant to multinational involvement could limit the long-term risks of Iran's nuclear program as restrictions on it expire, according to this Policy Forum. In July, Iran is expected to sign an agreement restricting its nuclear program, but also affirming its right to pursue uranium enrichment as those restrictions end in 2025 and beyond. Authors Alexander Glaser, Zia Mian, and Frank von Hippel suggest that selling shares of Iran's uranium enrichment plant to other countries could help keep Iran's nuclear program peaceful. Today, 60% of the world's enrichment capacity outside of Russia belongs to the Urenco Group, a company jointly controlled by Germany, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom. Additionally, Middle Eastern countries could form a regional nuclear inspection body to augment the International Atomic Energy Agency's inspection efforts, as Argentina and Brazil did when they gave up their nuclear weapons programs, the authors suggest. They say, multinationalizing Iran's enrichment program in advance of 2025 could set a standard that reduces nuclear proliferation risks worldwide.
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Article #1: "After the Iran deal: Multinational enrichment," by A. Glaser; Z. Mian; F. von Hippel at Princeton University in Princeton, NJ.
Journal
Science