On the 5th June 2013, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the expert panel established to monitor the implementation of Security Council sanctions on the Islamic Republic of Iran, following its failure to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about its nuclear programme. Dr. Jonathan Brewer, a visiting professor of the Centre for Science and Security Studies in King’s College London, has been a member of the panel since 2010. The new resolution extends the committee’s mandate for one year, through 9 July 2014. A description of the panel’s work can be accessed on this page.
While Iran insists its nuclear program is peaceful in nature, following the discovery in 2003 that Iran had been concealing aspects of its nuclear programme which should have been declared to the IAEA, and subsequent information of involvement in nuclear activities which appeared to have a military dimension, a number of countries have suspected Iran of harbouring intentions to develop nuclear weapons. The Security Council has enforced sanctions on Iran since 2006, including a ban on items which could contribute to its prohibited nuclear programmes and ballistic missile programmes, on arms sales to and from Iran, and a freeze of assets of designated individuals and entities.
