Nuclear disarmament and ongoing monitoring and verification in Iraq

Full text: Following Iraq's withdrawal from Kuwait, the United Nations Security Council adopted its resolution 687 (1991), setting out the terms of the cease fire agreement. Those terms, inter alia, requested the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to carry out immediate on-site inspection of Iraq's nuclear capabilities, to prepare and carry out a plan for the destruction, removal and rendering harmless of all assets relevant to the design and production of nuclear weapons, and to design and eventually implement a plan for the ongoing monitoring and verification of Iraq's compliance with its related obligations under Security Council resolutions. This paper summarises the work of the IAEA Iraq Action Team, established by the Director General to carry out the practical tasks necessary to implement the requests of the Security Council. It also highlights lessons learned from a unique regime of disarmament and verification. (author)