'US, Jordan cooperating to counter nuclear smuggling'

AMMAN — Jordan and the US discussed this week means to advance cooperation on preventing, detecting and responding to nuclear smuggling, according to a US embassy statement.

At a meeting in Amman on Sunday, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Nonproliferation Programmes Simon Limage and Jordan’s Representative to the Nuclear Security Summit and Ambassador to France Makram Queisi exchanged views on nuclear smuggling and identified areas in which the two governments might work together.

They stressed the importance of a "coordinated, whole-of-government approach to countering nuclear smuggling". 

Several Jordanian ministries and corresponding US agencies participated in the meeting, the statement said.

"Given international seizures of weapon-usable nuclear material over the last 20 years, which suggest that additional materials could be available in illegal circulation", the two sides stressed the importance of "continued vigilance to ensure these dangerous materials do not fall into the hands of terrorists or other criminals." 

Both sides pledged their continued commitment to working together on these issues and identifying opportunities for further collaboration.

"Jordan has been a strong leader on international efforts to counter nuclear smuggling. During the 2012 and 2014 Nuclear Security Summits, Jordan presented a Statement of Activity and Cooperation to Counter Nuclear Smuggling, signed by 20 countries," the statement said. 

"Jordan has also undertaken to coordinate an updated statement at the 2016 Summit in Washington, DC. In support of the commitments outlined in the statement of activity, in February 2014 Jordan hosted a multi-country Counter Nuclear Smuggling Workshop and plans to do so again in November 2015," it added.