Feb 5 1987 [C] At the Conference
on Disarmament (CD), the United States asserts that it gives achieving a
global chemical weapons
(CW) ban "the highest priority." However, it "will not accept...a ban without
sound machinery of verification."
Feb 8 1987 [N] The Convention
on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials enters into force. The Convention
stipulates levels of protection for the shipment and transportation of nuclear
materials. It establishes a cooperation framework among states in the recovery
and return of stolen nuclear materials and defines offenses involving nuclear
material that states are to make punishable.
Feb 10 1987 [N] China signs the protocols to the
Treaty of Bangkok (Treaty on the South Pacific
Nuclear-Free Zone) obligating them not to manufacture, acquire, test, or station
any nuclear explosive device in the South Pacific. (The Soviet Union was the
first nuclear weapon state to sign the protocols on December 15, 1986.)
Feb 26 1987 [N] The Soviet Union ends an 18-month
unilateral moratorium on nuclear testing. The Soviet Union announces its willingness
to resume the moratorium if the United States will do the same.
March 1987 [N] In an interview, Pakistan President Zia ul-Haq claims that Pakistan has the ability to build
nuclear weapons. The claim is echoed by U.S. Senator John Glenn.
March 31-April 15 1987 [B] In accordance with the
Final Declaration of the Second Review Conference of the Biological
Weapons Convention (BWC), an ad hoc meeting of scientific and technical
experts is held to develop procedures for implementing annual data exchanges.
April 15 1987 [M] U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz
meets with Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and Soviet Foreign Minister
Eduard Shevardnadze in Moscow. The United States proposes that both sides commit
to the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty
through 1994. U.S. and Soviet adherence to the ABM Treaty would be contingent
on the implementation of agreed Strategic Arms Reduction Talks (START)
reductions. After 1994, either state could choose whether to deploy a defense
system. The U.S. proposal also includes reciprocal measures to exchange data yearly
on planned strategic defense exercises, to brief each other on strategic defense
efforts, to allow visits to associated research facilities, and to agree to
procedures for observation of strategic defense testing.
April 16 1987 [M] Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)
established by United States, Canada, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and West
Germany to monitor and control the proliferation of equipment and technology that could potentially be used
in unmanned nuclear weapon delivery.
May 1987 [M] Israel tests long-range version of nuclear-capable Jericho II
Missile, said to be capable of striking the southern USSR. Iran is reported to have made secret
purchases of uranium from South Africa.
June 1987 [N] The New Zealand Parliament passes
the Nuclear-Free Zone Arms Control and Disarmament Act. The legislation formalizes
New Zealand's ban from its ports of nuclear powered ships and vessels believed
to be carrying nuclear explosives. The New Zealand government refuses to accept
the long-standing practice of the U.S. Navy to "neither confirm nor deny" whether
a ship is carrying nuclear weapons.
Aug 1987 [M] Iraq test-fires a medium-range missile capable of delivering chemical weapons.
Aug 11-12 1987 [C] Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard
Shevardnadze announces that the Soviet Union will henceforth be willing to accept
the principle of "mandatory challenge inspections without right of refusal"
as part of the verification provisions of a CW
ban. This removes a critical remaining obstacle to an international ban. The
foreign minister also invites CD
participants to a Soviet military facility to observe the destruction of CW.
Sept 1987 [C] In the final phases of its military
intervention in Chad, Libya reportedly uses Iranian-supplied CW
against Chadian troops.
Sept 1987 [N] Brazil announces it has mastered the process of
enriching uranium;
then, in early 1988, it opens a pilot enrichment facility not subject to International Atomic Energy agency safeguards.
Sept 15 1987 [N] U.S. Secretary of State George
Shultz and Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze sign the Agreement on
Nuclear Risk Reduction Centers. The accord establishes a second Moscow-Washington
direct communications link for exchange of information on ballistic
missile tests and other matters.
Nov 18 1987 [O] Iraqi warplanes attack the Bushehr
nuclear reactor complex, reportedly injuring several West German engineers working
at the site and killing one. However, an Iraqi military communiqué says
that the attack was on "the Iranian industrial and chemical production complex
at Bushehr," some 37 miles from the reactor complex.
Dec 1987 [N] Pakistan ratifies the Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT).
Dec 8 1987 [M] The United States and the Soviet
Union sign the Intermediate-Range
Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, thereby agreeing to the removal of their intermediate-
and short-range missiles
from Europe.
Dec 9 1987 [N] The United States and the Soviet
Union agree to conduct the Joint Verification Experiment, allowing each side
to monitor a nuclear test conducted by the other. The Soviet Union monitors
a U.S. test August 17, 1988, and the United States a Soviet test on September
14, 1988.
Dec 26 1987 [C] The Soviet Union declares for
the first time the size of its CW
stockpile. According to the official statement, "the stocks of chemical weapons
in the Soviet Union do not exceed 50,000 tons of poisonous substances."
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