ABSTRACT
Yaël Ronen, The Iran Nuclear Issue (Oxford: Hart Publishing, 2010, 550 pages) Javaid Rehman
This book examines the legal issues emerging from Iran’s nuclear programme, and the response to this programme by the International community as represented by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations (UN). The volume is primarily a set of documents consisting inter alia of the resolutions from the UN Security Council and the IAEA. The volume commences with a critical introduction to the legal and political complications emanating from Iran’s nuclear ambitions. This section sets out the history of Iran’s nuclear programme, although with a focus on events during the US-led, so-called “war on terror” under the administration of George W. Bush. The discussion examines the role played by the IAEA in determining the position of Iran, and the subsequent referral of the IAEA Board of Governors of Iran’s apparent non-compliance with the provisions of Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) 1970. A brief review is also conducted on the role played by member States of the European Union, led by the UK, France and Germany (EU3) in their attempts to resolve the dispute and to draw Iran to the discussion-table during the past decade.
