Global Security Newswire

Iraq signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty yesterday, delivering on a long-delayed promise to support the global pact (see GSN, Sept. 26, 2005).

Baghdad's signature leaves only 18 nations that have not signed the treaty that prohibits all nuclear explosions, according to the official CTBT Web site.

"This is particularly significant given the multitude of challenges facing the government of Iraq today:  It is a strong political signal for nuclear disarmament and nonproliferation," Tibor Toth, head of the treaty's implementation and verification organization, said in a press release.  "My hope is that it will encourage other countries of the region and beyond to follow suit."

While it opened for signature in 1996, the treaty has not yet entered into force.  It still needs the ratifications of nine countries from a list of 44 nuclear-capable states:  China, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan and the United States (Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization release, Aug. 20).