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The United Nations serves as a key international platform for stemming the proliferation of nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons by bringing nations together to share resources and information and creating frameworks for addressing breaches of international agreements. The UN also aims to build a unified front against rogue nations.
Taking Action Against Rogue States
The UN Security Council has addressed threats to international security in its unified condemnation of Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs in 2006 and 2007.
Iran
On March 24, 2007, the UN Security Council unanimously agreed to widen the scope of its sanctions against Iran by banning the country’s arms exports, freezing the assets, and restricting travel of 28 government and military individuals engaged in the country’s proliferation activities, and placing sanctions on the state-owned bank, Sepah. The resolution makes clear that if Iran suspends its uranium enrichment program, sanctions will be lifted and a previous offer of economic incentives will be made available. It follows a December 2006 sanctions resolution, which banned the import and export of materials and technology that could be used to enrich or process uranium or construct ballistic missiles and froze the assets of 22 Iranian officials and institutions. Iran is now one of only 11 countries out of 192 UN member states under sanction.
North Korea
In July 2006, North Korea conducted a series of missile tests. In response, the UN Security Council voted unanimously demanding that North Korea suspend all ballistic missile launches and prevent the import or export of funds or goods that could fuel Pyongyang's missile or weapons of mass destruction programs. Following North Korea’s nuclear test in October 2006, the Security Council imposed economic and commercial sanctions.
North Korea subsequently agreed to return to six-party diplomatic talks and to shut down its Yongbyon nuclear facility. The regime also invited a visit from the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaraedi, four years after ordering UN inspectors out of North Korea and withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty. The Yongbyon nuclear reactor was shut down on July 18, 2007.
Verifying World-Wide Nuclear Security and Usage: IAEA
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was established in 1957 to promote the peaceful use of nuclear energy and inhibit its use for military purposes. It is a core global actor in countering nuclear terrorism and provides member states with information and a technical reach that is beyond their individual capacities.
Since the 1990s, the IAEA has undertaken inspections and investigations of suspected violators of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The IAEA currently inspects nuclear facilities in over 140 nations. In 2003, IAEA verification efforts unmasked Libya’s hidden nuclear weapons program. Libya has since renounced this program.
The IAEA also helps prevent nuclear terrorism through a three-point plan designed to prevent, detect, and respond to any illicit or non-peaceful use of nuclear material.
- Prevention. The IAEA helps member states secure radioactive sources that might otherwise be used by terrorists. In partnership with the U.S. and Russia, the agency has been invaluable in helping former Soviet states secure vulnerable material. The IAEA also helps states develop national strategies for regaining control over radioactive materials. As a result, over 100 radioactive sources have been identified and secured.
- Detection. This second line of defense involves assisting states and regions detect and interdict illegal trafficking of nuclear materials through border controls, training customs officials, providing technical assistance for the physical protection of materials, and conducting IAEA inspections.
- Response. The IAEA trains states and regions to respond to illegal trafficking of nuclear materials, incidents of theft and sabotage, and radiological emergencies.
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