International Crisis Group
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  1. Iran's nuclear impasse
        a. The current situation
        b. What should be done
        c. Responses to critiques of Nuclear Impasse report

updated August 2007

1. Iran's nuclear impasse

a. The current situation — The Iranian nuclear dilemma continues, with no easy solution. Indeed a leaked internal assessment by the European Union in February 2007 suggested that little can now be done to stop Iran from acquiring the capacity to produce enriched uranium that could be used in nuclear weapons.

b. What should be done — Crisis Group's February 2006 report, Iran: Is There a Way Out of the Nuclear Impasse?, presented two options for solving the nuclear impasse with Iran. In a February 2007 op-ed in the International Herald Tribune, Crisis Group President Gareth Evans called for the adoption of the fallback "delayed limited enrichment" plan in place of the preferred "zero enrichment" option.

c. Response to critiques of Nuclear Impasse report — Recommendations made in Crisis Group's February 2006 report, Iran: Is There a Way Out of the Nuclear Impasse?, were criticised in 2006 by several respected non-proliferation experts. Crisis Group presents specific responses to the three broad critiques that have appeared since the report's publication.

2. North Korea's nuclear impasse

a. The current situation — North Korea's efforts to develop nuclear weapons have presented North East Asia, the United States and indeed the whole international community with an extraordinarily serious security challenge.

b. What should be done — A comprehensive, phased, negotiated settlement remains the best way of convincing North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

3. Crisis Group reports and commentaries

Crisis Group reports on Iran:

For all Crisis Group reports on Iran, visit the Iran country page.

For a month by month report on Iran since September 2003, see our CrisisWatch database.

For a concise history of the situation in Iran, see Crisis Group's Iran conflict history.

Crisis Group reports on North Korea:

For all Crisis Group reports on North Korea, visit the North Korea country page.

For a month by month report on North Korea since September 2003, see our CrisisWatch database.

For a concise history of the situation in North Korea, see Crisis Group's North Korea conflict history.

Crisis Group opinion pieces:

Crisis Group speeches and papers:

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4. News and other reporting

Useful news sources: Iran

Useful news sources: North Korea

Useful links

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5. Important documents

General:

Iran:

North Korea:

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6. Maps and geographical information

Iran's landscape is dominated by mountains ranges separated by plateaus and basins. The populous western region is the most mountainous, while the east is primarily uninhabited desert with a few salt lakes. Along the coast of the Caspian Sea and at the northern end of the Persian Gulf there are large plains. Iran borders Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the northeast, Pakistan and Afghanistan to the east, Turkey and Iraq to the west, and the Persian Gulf and Gulf of Oman to the south.

Iran (UN Cartographic Section) (PDF)

Provinces of Iran (Wikipedia)

Iran "Wall Map" 2004 with Population Density, Ethnoreligious Distribution, Key Petroleum Sector Facilities, Southern Caspian Energy Prospects and Strait Of Hormuz (University of Texas)

Ethnoreligious distribution (University of Texas)

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7. What you can do

Inform yourself about the crisis - Read Crisis Group's publications on Iran, details of which are set out above.

Tell a colleague - Email your friends and colleagues about the nuclear impasse with Iran, using our "tell a colleague" page. Insert a message, or copy information from this page and paste it into your email. The more people that are aware of the current situation in Iran, the better our ability to get the international community to respond.

Write to your newspaper - Write a letter to the editor of your national newspaper about the nuclear impasse with Iran. A selection of international newspapers is listed here, with email addresses to their letters pages.

Write to your elected representative - Write a letter or email to advise your elected representative of your views of the situation in Iran. A selection of countries with links to their governing institutions and contact details are listed here.

Donate - Crisis Group depends very much on public support, as well as grants from governments and foundations, to carry on our work of conflict prevention and resolution as well as to continue our high-level advocacy on the Iran nuclear issue.

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8. What Crisis Group does

Crisis Group advocates policy solutions to the world's leading policy-makers on areas of actual or potential conflict across four continents. Strong advocacy means disseminating the product as widely and effectively as possible, making sure that policy-makers hear the message and then persuading them to take action. Crisis Group distributes its reports:

  • by direct mail of printed reports and papers to over 4,100 senior policy-makers and those in the media and elsewhere who influence them;
  • by email notification of reports and papers to 21,700 targeted "influentials", and another 83,000 recipients subscribing through the Crisis Group website; and
  • through our website, www.crisisgroup.org, which in 2006 received 4.9 million visits, and from which 3.1 million copies of Crisis Group reports and briefing papers were downloaded during the course of the year.

Our major advocacy offices, in Brussels, Washington DC and New York, continue to ensure Crisis Group has the access and influence at the highest levels of the U.S. and European governments, the UN, EU and NATO. Our offices in London and Moscow work to strengthen Crisis Group's profile and improve access to UK and Russian decision-makers, while Brussels is responsible for the other European "Permanent Five" member, France. All Crisis Group offices, both advocacy and field, receive a regular flow of senior political and official visitors.

We welcome your feedback. You can email us using this form.

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