Nuclear Terrorism: Conceptual Explanation within the Framework of the United Nation's Performance

Nuclear terrorism is one of the most dangerous and terrible menace for human society and therefore, a serious threat and danger for peace and international security. The United Nations in the direction of fighting and containing nuclear terrorism and maintaining peace and international security has taken several legal steps. The occurrence of September 11, 2001 terrorist events and the possibility of committing similar terrorist acts with nuclear material added urgency to the fight against this kind of terrorism. The Security Council of the United Nations in resolution number 1540 in the year 2004 obligated all the governments to take necessary measures to control and protect nuclear material and prevent the proliferation and expansion of nuclear weapons, and in this way stop nuclear terrorism. Besides this one of the important measures taken in this regard with the initiative of General Assembly and International Atomic Energy Agency was the approval of a convention in 2005 in the General Assembly of the United Nations with a unanimous vote. On the 7th July 2007 after the receipt of twenty second approval document as the thirteenth international anti-terrorist convention put into effect and is binding on all the members. In this convention which includes 28 articles, the legitimate right of all countries for exploitation and peaceful use of nuclear energy was reiterated. This convention is the most important convention of the United Nations about terrorism. The authors of the present article want to describe the legal steps which have been taken in these international institutions, like the measures taken by General Assembly, Security Council and International Atomic Energy Agency, in the direction of flight against terrorism and maintaining peace and international security.