Nuclear Tests

At the Nuclear Security Summit in Seoul this week, two states were notably absent: Iran and North Korea. As international pariahs under heavy sanctions, the two countries have much in common but one important difference: North Korea possesses nuclear weapons, while Iran does not. Washington must learn from its errors in handling North Korea to keep Iran from following the same course. It must engage Tehran to bring it back from the brink and into the international community. Since 9/11, the United States has attacked Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, and Libya.

Monkeys scamper over the walls and grounds of dingy, decaying government buildings in the heart of New Delhi. "Ours is the only foreign office in the world where the monkeys are on the outside," quipped a ministry official. We were 11 Americans and a Norwegian on a fact-finding trip sponsored by the National Conference of Editorial Writers. Except for a weekend of sightseeing through Rajasthan state from Jaipur to Agra, we followed a relentless schedule of meetings with politicians, educators, activists, do-gooders and local journalists in Delhi and Mumbai (formerly Bombay)

VIENNA, Austria - An article on a Revolutionary Guard website praising the idea of Iran testing a nuclear bomb is raising alarms in Western intelligence circles, which interpret it as evidence of strong backing in the Islamic Republic for such a move. Titled "The Day After the First Iranian Nuclear Test - a Normal Day," the article coincides with other public or suspected activities that the United States and its allies see as indications that Tehran wants to possess atomic arms. "The day after the first Iranian nuclear test for us Iranians will be an ordinary day, but in the eyes of many of us, it will have a new shine, from the power and dignity of the nation," says the article published on the Gerdab site run by the Revolutionary Guard.

The Soviet Union yesterday conducted its first nuclear test in 19 months, saying it was in response to U.S. refusal to join a mutual test ban. During a Moscow news conference, a Defense Ministry spokesman said the Kremlin was ready to resume its test moratorium "any day or any month" that Washington agreed to a similar step. "I want to stress once more that the termination of the moratorium was a forced measure dictated by security interests only," said Maj. Gen. Gely Batenin.

A Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is the world's unfinished business and President Clinton has taken a giant step to finish that task. He has endorsed the end of nuclear testing on a global scale. He has rejected the Pentagon's demand that it be allowed to continue nuclear testing in a range that is equivalent to 200 to 500 tons of dynamite. The Pentagon says such testing is necessary to ensure the "safety and reliability" of our nuclear stockpiles. But expert weapons scientists disagree.

The Bush administration is laying the groundwork for the resumption of nuclear testing and the development of new nuclear weapons, according to a recent memo. The memorandum circulated to members of the Nuclear Weapons Council, a high-level government body that sets policy for nuclear weapons, urges the U.S. nuclear-weapons laboratories to assess the technical risks associated with maintaining the U.S. arsenal without nuclear testing, which President Bush's father halted in 1992.

Once again Soviet General Secretary Mikhail S. Gorbachev has extended his unilateral moratorium on nuclear tests, and once again the United States finds itself, like Walt Kelly's indecisive Pogo, "surrounded by insurmountable opportunities. " The Soviet moratorium, already in effect for more than a year, will be extended another five months until Jan. 1, 1987, giving the Reagan administration still more time to come to its senses and seize the historic moment. The President could have the summit meeting he claims to want and turn it into the most hopeful and significant summit in history by accepting the Gorbachev offer and stopping all U.S. tests.

American and Soviet government experts will meet in Geneva next month to resume the technical discussions begun in July on a broad range of issues related to nuclear testing. Amid the flurry of publicity around renewed Soviet calls for a comprehensive test ban, as well as congressinal attempts to push the administration in that direction, the serious but low-key Geneva discussions stand in stark contrast. Yet, they are the direct result of the Reagan administration's sound agenda in the area of nuclear testing - an agenda too little understood or heeded by those looking for an illusory "quick fix" to achieve the real nuclear arms reductions that we all seek.

The United States yesterday postponed a nuclear test that could have prompted the Soviet Union to end its eight-month moratorium on nuclear testing. Reagan administration officials in Washington said the postponement was due to technical problems, not to discussions with the Soviets, the weather or protests near the site in which 89 people were arrested. White House spokesman Larry Speakes refused to discuss reasons for the postponement except to say it was unrelated to U.S.-Soviet relations or planning for a summit.

The Soviet Union continued to react with outrage yesterday to Saturday's U.S. nuclear test, amid hints and speculation here that the Kremlin would soon end its self-imposed moratorium on nuclear testing. "In giving the order to press the button, someone in Washington meant to torpedo the Soviet moratorium and is trying to force the Soviet Union to resume testing," one Soviet government news commentator said. The Soviet news media stopped short of saying their country would resume testing, but Western diplomats said the Kremlin was unlikely to extend its moratorium again.