Iran brings urgency to U.S.’s need to ratify nuclear test ban treaty

Deepti Choubey is deputy director of the Nonproliferation Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Ten years ago last week, the Senate rejected the treaty for a global ban on nuclear tests. In April, President Barack Obama promised to “immediately and aggressively pursue U.S. ratification.”

Proliferation threats like Iran make U.S. ratification more urgent and a smart global security strategy. After the U.S. and China ratify, the major powers will have another tool for impeding Iran’s nuclear ambitions. Because China’s ratification is linked to the timing of U.S. ratification, the United States must act first.

In light of recent revelations and consternation about Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapons capability, the global test ban is a critical tool. Iranian ratification is both a confidence-building measure and an obstacle to nuclear weapons development. A would-be nuclear weapons state requires nuclear tests to have confidence that its weapons work and can be deployed as deliverable nuclear warheads. States in pursuit of prestige also use nuclear tests to announce their capabilities. ...

http://thehill.com/opinion/op-ed/63967-iran-brings-urgency-to-uss-need-to-sign-nuclear-test-treaty