Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists: Iran–US negotiations

Posted: 13th February 2026

February 9, 2025

This combination of pictures shows US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (left) and Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi (right) in 2025. (Photos by EVELYN HOCKSTEIN and Amer HILABI via Getty Images)

Why Iran–US negotiations must move beyond a single-issue approach to the nuclear problem

If the negotiations between Iran and the United States are to be effective and durable, they must move beyond single-issue approaches on nuclear weapons and toward a comprehensive, direct, and phased dialogue, writes Seyed Hossein Mousavian. Read more.

New START ends. But a one-year extension could bring many benefits

Rose Gottemoeller, the former chief US negotiator for New START, explains that a one-year extension of the treaty limits would not prejudice any of the vital steps Washington is taking to respond to China’s nuclear build-up. Read more.

Three arms control proposals for a post-New START world

Nuclear policy experts Joseph Rodgers and Doreen Horschig offer three ways by which arms control can reform itself to manage strategic competition in a multipolar, post-New START world. Read more.

Nuclear arms control and disarmament after New START

Daryl G. Kimball, director of the Arms Control Association, welcomes President Trump’s comments that he wants to pursue arms control talks. But he warns that making progress on an “improved” nuclear deal with Russia will take time, preparation, and tough negotiations. Read more.

VIDEO

Nobel Peace Prize Winner on turning back the Doomsday Clock

“Now it’s time to create, to build the world we want, that is more compassionate, more equal, more sustainable,” said Maria Ressa at the 2026 Doomsday Clock announcement. Watch now.

EVENT

Doomsday Clock panel at University of Chicago

Bulletin president and CEO Alexandra Bell and Bulletin Science and Security Board Chair Daniel Holz will speak about this year’s Doomsday Clock setting on a panel moderated by University of Chicago professor Chris Blattman. Reserve a free spot here.

Recent articles

• In a world without New START, old verification regimes could be key to strategic stability
• Nuclear arms control needs broader and more audacious measures
• With New START expiring, it’s now dialogue or arms racing
  
• Arms control and the management of uncertainty after New START
  
• New START expires. Now what?

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“There are a lot of good things that both Russians and Americans can say about New START. It was a good treaty and it did a lot of good for both countries and for global security.”

— Dmitry Stefanovich, research fellow at the Primakov Institute, “For the first time in decades, the U.S. and Russia have no limits on nuclear weapons,” NPR

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