Editing Nuclear proliferation (section)

====Iraq====
{{more citations needed section|date=January 2013}}
{{See also|Iraq and weapons of mass destruction}}
Up to the late 1980s it was generally assumed that any undeclared nuclear activities would have to be based on the diversion of nuclear material from safeguards. States acknowledged the possibility of nuclear activities entirely separate from those covered by safeguards, but it was assumed they would be detected by national intelligence activities. There was no particular effort by IAEA to attempt to detect them.

Iraq had been making efforts to secure a nuclear potential since the 1960s. In the late 1970s a specialised plant, [[Osiraq]], was constructed near Baghdad. The plant was attacked during the [[Iran–Iraq War]] and was [[Operation Opera|destroyed by Israeli bombers]] in June 1981.

Not until the 1990 NPT Review Conference did some states raise the possibility of making more use of (for example) provisions for "special inspections" in existing NPT Safeguards Agreements. Special inspections can be undertaken at locations other than those where safeguards routinely apply, if there is reason to believe there may be undeclared material or activities.

After inspections in Iraq following the UN [[Gulf War]] cease-fire resolution showed the extent of Iraq's clandestine nuclear weapons program, it became clear that the IAEA would have to broaden the scope of its activities. Iraq was an NPT Party, and had thus agreed to place all its nuclear material under IAEA safeguards. But the inspections revealed that it had been pursuing an extensive clandestine uranium enrichment programme, as well as a nuclear weapons design programme.

The main thrust of Iraq's uranium enrichment program was the development of technology for [[electromagnetic isotope separation]] (EMIS) of indigenous uranium. This uses the same principles as a [[mass spectrometer]] (albeit on a much larger scale). Ions of [[uranium-238]] and [[uranium-235]] are separated because they describe arcs of different radii when they move through a magnetic field. This process was used in the [[Manhattan Project]] to make the highly enriched uranium used in the [[Little Boy|Hiroshima bomb]], but was abandoned soon afterwards.

The Iraqis did the basic research work at their nuclear research establishment at Tuwaitha, near [[Baghdad]], and were building two full-scale facilities at Tarmiya and Ash Sharqat, north of Baghdad. However, when the war broke out, only a few separators had been installed at Tarmiya, and none at Ash Sharqat.

The Iraqis were also very interested in [[Nuclear fuel cycle#Enrichment|centrifuge enrichment]], and had been able to acquire some components including some carbon-fibre rotors, which they were at an early stage of testing. In May 1998, ''[[Newsweek]]'' reported that [[Abdul Qadeer Khan]] had sent Iraq centrifuge designs, which were apparently confiscated by the [[United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission|UNMOVIC]] officials. Iraqi officials said "the documents were authentic but that they had not agreed to work with A. Q. Khan, fearing an [[ISI (Pakistan)|ISI]] sting operation, due to [[Iraq–Pakistan relations|strained relations]] between two countries.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://isis-online.org/publications/southasia/khan_memo.html|title=Documents Indicate A.Q. Khan Offered Nuclear Weapon Designs to Iraq in 1990: Did He Approach Other Countries?|website=isis-online.org|access-date=1 July 2023|archive-date=1 July 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230701200625/https://isis-online.org/publications/southasia/khan_memo.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[Government of Pakistan]] and A. Q. Khan strongly denied this allegation whilst the government declared the evidence to be "fraudulent".<ref name="International Institute for Strategic Studies (ISSI)">{{cite book |last=Fitzpatrick |first=Mark |contribution=Dr. A. Q. Khan and the rise and fall of proliferation network |title=Nuclear black markets |location=London, United Kingdom |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-86079-201-7 |publisher=International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS)}}</ref>

They were clearly in violation of their NPT and safeguards obligations, and the IAEA Board of Governors ruled to that effect. The [[United Nations Security Council|UN Security Council]] then ordered the IAEA to remove, destroy or render harmless Iraq's nuclear weapons capability. This was done by mid-1998, but Iraq then ceased all cooperation with the UN, so the IAEA withdrew from this work.

The revelations from Iraq provided the impetus for a very far-reaching reconsideration of what safeguards are intended to achieve.