Egypt

Past nuclear policies

In the late 1960s, following a number of reports that Israel had built two nuclear weapons, Egyptian leaders may have decided that their country needed to have its own credible nuclear deterrent. This was in addition to then President Nasser’s earlier decision to develop a modern indigenous missile program.  Egypt’s first move to develop nuclear weapons was to request assistance from both the Soviet Union and People’s Republic of China.  However, it does not appear that they were successful in convincing either country to assist them. President Nasser may have then decided that Egypt would go it alone, calling on national entities to create a plan to construct a nuclear program. 

Egypt's indigenous nuclear weapons program was likely halted by incoming President Sadat who downplayed the Israeli nuclear threat for years. However, the nuclear issue was once again raised with incoming President Mubarak.  He was elected in 1981, the same year that Egypt acceded to the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), and in 1990, President Mubarak announced his plan to create a Middle Eastern Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (NWFZ).  Since then, Egypt has taken every opportunity, from NPT review conferences to IAEA meetings, to propose the establishment of this zone.

Egypt has been equally vigilant in its objection to Israel’s nuclear weapons capability, which is seen by all Arab nations as the major threat in the region.  Officials consistently call on Israel to join the NPT, rid itself of nuclear weapons, and put its nuclear facilities under IAEA safeguards.  Egyptian diplomats use every occasion to demand that Israel come clean with regard to its nuclear capability.  In a recent paper presented at a November Pugwash conference, a technical advisor to the Egyptian President said,“For Egypt and other Arab states, the Israeli nuclear capability is perceived not as a deterrence force, but as one of coercion.  It is considered a destabilizing factor in the Middle East, triggering arms races and weapon of mass destruction proliferation.”

Sources

1.“Ballistic Missiles in the Third World,” by Aaron Karp, International Security, Vol. 9, No. 3. (Winter, 1984-1985), p. 189.  See also,“Nasser’s Missile Program,” by Lewis A. Frank, Orbis, Vol 11 No. 3 (Fall 1967), pp. 746-757 and“Arab Perceptions of Israel’s Nuclear Posture, 1960-1967,” by Ariel E. Levite and Emily B. Landau, Israel Studies, Vol. 1 No.1, (Spring 1996).

2. “ Egypt and the Middle East Resolution at the NPT 2000 Review Conference ,”  by Rebecca Stevens and Amin Tarzi, Center for Nonproliferation Studies (CNS), 24 April 2000(http://www.cns.miis.edu/pubs/reports/egypt.htm).

3. “ Egypt’s Nuclear Dilemma ,” by Emily B. Landau, Strategic Assessment, Vol. 5, No. 3, November 2002
(http://www.tau.ac.il/jcss/sa/v5n3p5Lan.html).

4. “ Egypt’s Stance on Nuclear Issue ,” Government of Egypt Web Page, 2002 (http://www.sis.gov.eg/nuclear /nukes01.htm).

5. “ Security and Defense Dilemmas in the Middle East: The Nuclear Dimension,” by Mohamed Kadry Said, given at Pugwash Meeting no. 279, November 2002 (http://www.pugwash.org/reports/nw/kadrysaid.htm).

6. Shyam Bhatia Nuclear Rivals in the Middle East, (London & New York: Routledge, 1988), p. 59.

7. " Statement by Ambassador Nabil El-Araby, Egypt’s Permanent Representative to UN before the 1995 Review and Extension NPT Conference ," State Information Service, New York, 11 May, 1995
(http://www.sis.gov.eg/nuclear/nukes01d.htm).

8. " Statement to the NPT 2000 Review Conference ," H.E. Mr. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, Permanent Representative of Egypt to the United Nations, New York, 25 April 2000. (http://www.ceip.org/programs/npp/nptegypt.htm).

Return to top

Any reproduction of text and data is authorized only by permission, SIPRI July 2004.