Nuclear security

Hiroshima and the Iran agreement

Seventy years ago this week, the United States dropped the first of two nuclear weapons over Japan, the only times nuclear weapons have been deployed in war. The carnage at Hiroshima was immediate, horrific, and extensive. Between 60,000 and 80,000 people died instantly, about half the number of those who ultimately died over time as a result of the explosion.

Tragic as it is, the Hiroshima anniversary—coming during the heated debate over the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), an agreement between the international community and Iran to curtail Iran’s nuclear program—is also timely. The anniversary provides an opportunity to reflect on lessons learned (or not learned) from nuclear war and seven decades of trying to prevent its recurrence, and to apply that knowledge to the current situation in the Middle East.

Today, critics of the Iran agreement rightly point out that it will not solve all the region’s security problems; that it cannot be verified with total confidence; and that it may not change Iran’s intent to acquire nuclear weapons in the future. But such all-encompassing results were never realistic expectations for any plan to limit Iran’s nuclear program. Arms control agreements are not, and have never been, magic bullets.