Presence of Iranian and Israeli Experts in Nuclear Test Tracking Exercise in Jordan

An official from the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) says that Iran and Israel collaborated within the framework of the so-called 'Nuclear Test Tracking Exercises.' According to a report on April 13, by Reuters, 'Lassina Zerbo,' the Executive Secretary of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT, stated that 'Iranian and Israeli nuclear experts worked together in the Jordan exercise.' The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, which was proposed and established in the 1990s, enjoys broad global support but must be ratified by eight other nuclear-capable countries, including Israel and Iran, as well as Egypt and the United States, to become operational. This treaty has 44 member states. According to Reuters, Middle Eastern signatories of the treaty regularly hold technical meetings, including the Jordan exercise in November and December of last year, aimed at identifying illegal nuclear tests. During his visit to Israel, Zerbo said, 'Iran participated in the Jordan exercise. Egypt was also part of it. I believe all Arab countries had representatives in this exercise in Jordan.' He told Reuters that during the exercise, when they had roundtables or dinner and lunch gatherings, Iranian and Israeli experts sat around the same table. Zerbo added, 'It is common for us to see people around a table in a technical field who do not necessarily share a political common ground but can find common ground scientifically.' The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty has designed a system to monitor any nuclear explosion and has over 337 monitoring facilities worldwide. Zerbo mentioned that among these facilities are two seismic stations in Israel and Iran. He added that the Iranian seismic station has been inactive since 2006, which is when the international network was updated and Iran was sanctioned due to its nuclear program, making it difficult to transfer equipment to the country.