Brian Bradley
NS&D Monitor
5/1/2015
Israel has shown support for ratifying the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, the leader of the primary organization concerned with banning global nuclear tests said this week. “Recently, I was in Israel. Last year, they told me that ratification of the CTBT is not ‘if,’ but ‘when,’ Lassina Zerbo, Executive Secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization, told attendees of a CTBT meeting held early this week on the sidelines of the 2015 Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty Review Conference. “I want, this year, to work on the ‘when.’ I hope the ‘when’ is not too far.”
For the treaty to enter into force, all 44 countries designated as “Annex 2” must ratify the document. Iran, China, the United States, North Korea, Israel, Egypt, Pakistan and India are the eight remaining Annex 2 states that must ratify for the treaty’s entry into force. Zerbo urged the remaining countries to take action. “It could be Egypt; it could be Iran; it could be Israel: Anyone, including China and the United States,” he said.
