19 June 2006 - THE NATO PA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY COMMITTEE'S SUB-COMMITTEE ON THE PROLIFERATION OF MILITARY TECHNOLOGY VISITS THE UNITED STATES [PRESS COMMUNIQUE]

With regards to Iran, most of the speakers hoped that the package of incentives recently submitted to Iran by the European Troika, the US, Russia and China, will be accepted by Tehran and will serve as a basis for the settlement of current disagreement. The "E3" ambassadors emphasised that if the package of incentives is declined by Tehran, the International Community will run out of options and will have to introduce a package of sanctions (or disincentives). Iranian ambassador to the UN,  Mohammad Javad Zarif, stated that it would have been easier to reach an agreement between the West and Iran had Iranian representatives been involved in the preparation of such a package.

From the meeting in New York, the sub-committee delegation gained the rather pessimistic impression that the UN system as a whole is in a serious crisis. Nobuaki Tanaka, UN Under Secretary-General for Disarmament Affairs, observed that the existing stalemate both in nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation is a result of certain groups of countries preferring one solution to another. Mr. Tanaka, however, called for a balanced approach and exponential progress in both areas.

In Monterey, experts from the Center for Non-proliferation Studies discussed issues including the impact of synthetic biology on international security, the assessment of the US-India nuclear deal and the problem of eliminating highly enriched uranium from the civilian sector. The delegation visited the Cisco Systems Headquarters in San José and discussed the outstanding challenge of net-centricity. The Lockheed Martin officials briefed the delegation on missile defence and space weaponisation issues in the LM Space Systems facility in Sunnyvale.