On 17-18 October 2007, the IISS held the fourth and final workshop in its two-year programme ‘Building a Common Approach to the Iranian Nuclear Problem’, which is jointly directed by Senior Fellow for Transatlantic Relations Dr Dana Allin and Senior Fellow for Non-Proliferation Mark Fitzpatrick. The workshop was made possible by the support of the Ford Foundation and the Carnegie Corporation of New York. Given Russia’s influence in United Nation Security Council deliberations, and its clear determination to play a decisive role in any negotiated settlement with Iran, Moscow was an appropriate venue for the final workshop of the project. A strong and diverse Russian participation made for a rich and productive exchange.
The workshop established that, despite President Putin’s contention that he had seen no evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons programme, most Russian analysts agree with their Western counterparts that Iran is seeking, at the very least, a nuclear weapons capability, and that this scenario should be avoided. However, it was also demonstrated that neither Russia nor China perceive the threat of a nuclear Iran with the same urgency as the United States or the EU-3.
It was generally agreed that a failure to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem peacefully could ultimately have dire consequences. Yet multilateral diplomacy to prevent these outcomes may be frustrated unless the P5 states harmonise their assessments of the dangers posed by a nuclear Iran.
A report of the workshop can be downloaded below.
