January 12, 2016

U.S., Jordan Sign Agreement to Combat Nuclear Smuggling

By ExchangeMonitor

The United States and Jordan signed an agreement Monday to work together to combat nuclear terrorism, the State Department announced. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Jordanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nasser Judeh signed the joint action plan “to improve efforts against nuclear and radiological smuggling,” the State Department said. The plan seeks to strengthen laws and cooperation among domestic agencies in Jordan and “expresses the intention of the two governments to work together to enhance Jordan’s capabilities to prevent, detect, and respond to nuclear smuggling incidents,” it said.

The State Department noted that in the past two years Jordan has hosted two multilateral workshops on countering nuclear smuggling. Jordan introduced a statement on the topic during the 2012 and 2014 Nuclear Security Summits that was signed by “as many as 20 countries,” the State Department said, adding that “today’s signing reflects the common conviction of the United States and Jordanian governments that nuclear smuggling is a critical and ongoing global threat that requires a coordinated, global response.” Jordan is one of 86 nations participating in the Global Initiative to Combat Nuclear Terrorism, an international partnership co-chaired by the U.S. and Russia that hosts multilateral capacity-building activities to prevent nuclear terrorism.

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