Belfer Center publications examine Iran, nuclear weapons

The Belfer Centers Managing the Atom Project has produced two new publications on resolving the Iranian nuclear crisis. Senior research associate Matthew Bunn has written Placing Irans Enrichment Activities in Standby, an examination of warm and cold standby options for the suspension of Irans 164-centrifuge cascade at Natanz. Warm and cold standby approaches offer options for a verifiable pause in uranium enrichment operations, while maintaining Irans capabilities for the future, writes Bunn. Either option would effectively constrain Irans ability to use activities at Natanz to increase its potential capability to produce material for nuclear weapons.

The full paper can be accessed at http://www.managing-theatom.org/irannews/250/placing-irans-enrichment-activities-in-standby.

Additionally, Bunn and Abbas Maleki, senior research fellow with the Belfer Center’s Energy Technology Innovation Project and International Security Program, have also written “Finding Compromise in Iran,” a Boston Globe op-ed making the case for additional steps to increase the chance of a verifiable negotiated solution – and for not allowing the difference between zero and 164 centrifuges at Natanz to stand in the way of a deal. “For diplomacy to work,” the piece explains, “the United States needs a strategy that gives Iranian advocates of compromise a chance of winning the internal Iranian debate.”