Pakistan primary source of nuclear threat – nuclear think tank

The nuclear threat exists, especially in the case of Pakistan, Center for Energy and Security Studies director Anton Khlopkov told RT.

President Barack Obama said at the summit on Tuesday that the risk of a nuclear attack has increased.

“Two decades after the end of the Cold War we face a cruel irony of history,” Obama said. “The risk of a nuclear confrontation between nations has gone down, but the risk of nuclear attack has gone up.”

“I think the threat exists, especially in the case of Pakistan, and I think a lot of efforts should be applied in Pakistan to make the nukes more secure,” Khlopkov said. “My approach is… that Iran is trying to get technical expertise that could be used one day if there is a political decision for non-peaceful use. In this regard, of course, Russia has concern that the Iranian nuclear program and Iran’s nuclear status will be more transparent than they are now.”

Igor Danchenko, senior researcher analyst of the Brookings Institution thinks that President Dmitry Medvedev has already made all the key points on nuclear security during the negotiations between Russia and the US.

“I believe that President Medvedev is going to try to follow up on the successful conclusion of the START treaty and outline the Russian position on mostly contested issues vis-à-vis nuclear security such as Iran,” Danchenko told RT. “Most other issues on proliferation or non-proliferation of nuclear materials should be handled with participation of Russia, but they should be dealt with multilaterally, whereas resolution of Iranian nuclear dossier requires direct participation of Russia and China, whereas Chinese premier Hu Jin Tao had a chance to meet with President Obama eye-to-eye and outline the Chinese position.”