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The International Atomic Energy Agency is set to release a report that accuses Iran of using foreign aid to get to fund its nuclear weapons capability. Israel's prime minister and president have already warned that they are taking this very seriously, even threatening military intervention. There is also talk of a preemptive strike by the Israelis to confront Iran's nuclear weapons.

Yesterday we discussed which nuclear weapons will be affected by the New START agreement, which was ratified by the Senate. Today we examine another worrisome type of nuclear material — the unaccounted-for kind, which terrorists have the best chance of acquiring.

 

The last convoy of U.S. combat troops left Iraq last night under cover of darkness. 440 troops of the 4/2 Stryker Brigade crossed into Kuwait, leaving behind another 56,000 U.S. service members in support and training roles. 6,000 are scheduled to withdraw by September 1st; another 50,000 will remain behind into 2011. 

Ambassador Hans Blix, former head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, led a team of UN inspectors into Iraq before the 2003 invasion, searching for weapons of mass destruction. They found none, but the invasion went ahead as planned. 

Read a full transcript.

Hans Blix, former head of the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency), reacts to President Barack Obama's Nobel Peace Prize win.

Yesterday President Obama made nuclear disarmament a central theme of his speech to the General Assembly of the United Nations. Today he chairs a Security Council meeting on the issue. For a look at what the president needs to say and do to convince the world that he means business, we turn to two men who are experts in the realms of diplomacy, foreign policy and nuclear proliferation. Hans Blix served as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from 1981 to 1997 before he was tapped to lead the U.N. committee charged with searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. We also speak to Joe Cirincione, president of the anti-nuclear Ploughshares Fund. He also wrote the book "Bomb Scare: The History and Future of Nuclear Weapons."

Here are highlights of President Obama's address to the United Nations yesterday:

The U.S. and the United Nations now have to calibrate their reaction to North Korea's recent missile test, while also worrying about Iran's nuclear ambition and fears of proliferation on the subcontinent. The International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA, is the international regulatory agency charged with monitoring the use and development of nuclear energy. But the agency is in the middle of electing a new general director. There are five candidates vying for the job and they are officially announcing their candidacies today. How much can the agency do?

Hans Blix knows something about those nuclear politics. He served as Director General of the IAEA from 1981 to 1997 before he was tapped to lead the U.N. committee that was eventually charged with searching for weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. He joins The Takeaway to discuss North Korea and the new era of nuclear politics.

In 2003, Hans Blix was in charge of monitoring Iraq's weapons for the United Nations. Blix joins us today to share his ideas for new strategies to stop the spread of nuclear weapons around the world. He's written a recent article for the Boston Review called "Nuclear Freeze" and is ...