Dismantling the Iraqi Nuclear Programme ― The International Atomic Energy Agency, 1991-1998

This book is an authoritative account of the nuclear weapons inspections regime in Iraq from 1991 to 1998, based on primary sources, such as inspection reports. This account is crucial to understanding the subsequent developments, including the US-led intervention in 2003.

The first part introduces the legal and political foundations for the arms inspections process in Iraq after the Gulf War in 1991, the creation of the UN Special Commission and the IAEA’s Iraq Action Team. Part II comprises a detailed presentation of the inspections process of the IAEA 1991-1998. The head of the Iraqi Nuclear Programme was also interviewed several times, providing a close look into not only the motivation of involved Iraqis, but also Iraqi concealment mechanisms.

The author's unique access into the Iraq Action Team’s archives allows for a comparison between popular narratives of the inspection process in Iraq and the day-to-day evaluations of the inspectors. Some of these inspectors, including two heads of the IAT, were interviewed extensively and provided technical advice and corrections. An important by-product of the research is the documentation of the complicated working relationship between the two bodies that were tasked with the disarmament of Iraq: UNSCOM and IAEA. The UNSCOM version of the conflict and of weapons inspections in Iraq in general, has hitherto dominated the discourse. The book presents completely new information about the weapons inspection regime in Iraq and offers valuable lessons for future non-proliferation and disarmament cases.

This book will be of much interest to students of nuclear proliferation, arms control, Iraq, Middle Eastern politics, international security and IR.