Dr. Siamak Bagheri, referring to the decision of the Russian president to sign the law to cancel ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which required Russia to refrain from nuclear explosions for military and civilian purposes and in any atmosphere, stated: With the end of the Cold War, we observed the movement of international powers to reach agreements limiting the production of weapons of mass destruction. This document was also supposed to become the international legal instrument to stop any nuclear testing, although this treaty has not entered into force to date.

Saying that the main purpose of the CTBT is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and advance disarmament efforts, he noted that thirty-two out of 321 CTBT monitoring stations are located on Russian soil, and the Kremlin spokesman also stated that Russia’s withdrawal from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty does not mean the intention of conducting nuclear tests. However, the type of doctrine that the US has adopted to maintain its hegemony in the world is destroying and destabilizing the international arms control regime.

The university professor continued: Considering the noticeable increase in geopolitical tensions reminiscent of the Cold War era and the changes that are taking place in the international power structure, especially the conditions that Russia is experiencing in connection with the war in Ukraine, has caused Russia to try to maintain its level of equality with NATO and show an atmosphere of ambiguity in the field of its weapons power. Thus, after withdrawing from this treaty, Russia will be in a situation similar to that of the United States; in other words, both countries have signed the CTBT but have not ratified it.

Bagheri stated that in the current situation, the owners of nuclear weapons are seeking to withdraw from international and bilateral agreements to maintain their deterrence, adding: The war in Ukraine and the way the United States, NATO, and the European Union intervened in the issue of Ukraine strategically it has strongly affected the national security of the Russians. They feel that all the regimes that aim to limit and control the monitoring of all types of weapons seek to impose restrictions on countries outside NATO and the Western bloc. Players who are within the framework of NATO or in the field of Western countries, with the support of the United States, advance all their objectives outside of international regulations so that the development and modernization of nuclear capabilities in various forms is underway in all the nine countries equipped with nuclear weapons.

He pointed to the developments in the relations between Russia and China after the Ukraine war, as well as the dispatch of advanced Western weapons to Kyiv, and added: Recently; the news indicated that the United States is building smaller nuclear bombs; bombs more powerful than those used in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In addition, the resurgence of nuclear competition and NATO’s decision to advance have influenced Russia’s and China’s security assessment.

The university professor considered the level of intensification of geopolitical competition and security concerns to be so high that it forced Russia into conflict in Ukraine and stated: Such concerns are still at the top of the macro strategic discussions of Russia and other international and even regional players that to maintain authority and deterrence against threats, move towards withdrawal from international agreements.

Bagheri emphasized the impact of the US measures to maintain its dominance in the world and stabilize its international position on the weakening of international laws and noted: In recent years, with the return of elements of the Cold War period, the threat of using nuclear weapons has returned to the forefront, and we have repeatedly seen the threat of using nuclear weapons by some of the owners of such weapons in all kinds of conflicts and confrontations that have occurred. In any challenge and crisis that happens, the threat of using weapons of mass destruction will definitely be raised. In fact, international conditions have changed from prioritizing dialogue in international relations to preferring the production of ballistic missiles, and we are witnessing hardware approaches in international relations instead of those based on dialogue and diplomacy.

Saying that the competition in the field of nuclear weapons is considered the most dangerous competition in the world, and this alarm has been sounded for all humanity, he noted: The perspective of nuclear threats is changing. In recent years, we have seen major steps to weaken international agreements on the non-proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. This situation seems to be a sign of a new multipolar arms race, along with increasing concerns about the possibility of resuming nuclear tests.

While recalling that from 1945 to 1992, the United States conducted 1030 nuclear tests, which was much more than other countries. The competition in conducting those tests was stopped with the successful negotiations of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in the 1990s, he added: The CTBT helped define post-Cold War nuclear detente, during which the United States and Russia dramatically reduced the number of warheads in their stockpiles and halted development of new plans. Now, with the reduction of the obligations of the two sides towards this treaty, speculations may begin about the possibility of nuclear tests.

Bagheri stated that in 2019, the United States announced its withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty and claimed that Russia is developing this class of its nuclear weapons with a range that can target most of Western Europe and is also building and modernizing own nuclear arsenal and the development of new and ultra-fast hypersonic weapon delivery systems and added: The real pacifist governments in the international system should pursue the consolidation of international laws to avoid the threat of using nuclear weapons, and by raising such issues and presenting new ideas in the United Nations and the General Assembly, should make other countries and the public opinion of the world aware of this issue and sensitive to it and by serious warnings raise the cost of withdrawing from international agreements on weapons of mass destruction.

He said: While we are now witnessing some threats to use nuclear weapons, there is no serious position against them in the United Nations, and most governments do not take a position regarding such dangerous statements.