Korea, Iran and nuke diplomacy

binding international law. Saudi Arabia also hasn’t signed.

Lastly, we have the 2017 Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which finally and explicitly makes nuclear weapons illegal under international law.

Previously considered impossible, the treaty was a dramatic, people-driven effort for which the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize.

The nine nuclear-armed states have shunned this treaty, along with their allies that expect to be protected by nuclear weapons (including Australia).

So that’s the legal landscape. What does it tell us about the Iran deal and North Korea’s nuclear programme? It tells us we should keep the Iran deal intact, both in terms of preventing the further spread of nuclear weapons and getting North Korea (and others) to take nuclear disarmament seriously. Iran is inside the NPT, not developing nuclear weapons. North Korea is outside the NPT with nuclear weapons.

President Trump’s actions essentially punish Iran for nuclear compliance and reward North Korea for nuclear defiance. That risks making nuclear weapons look useful – not a judicious strategy.

Last Friday’s inter-Korean summit happened because the leaderships in both Seoul and Pyongyang wanted it to work.

Nuclear disarmament relies on building the same sense of mutual interest. To prevent the production and use of weapons of mass destruction, countries are better served in the long run by negotiations than by bombs.

The Iran deal was the result of decades of efforts. To hammer it out, diplomats from Russia, China, the US, EU and Iran spent countless days, weeks and months sitting face to face. Same goes for the preparations of the inter-Korean summit. This human interaction is good for peace – it builds lasting trust and opens unexpected opportunities for co-operation.

Contrast that with the bombing of Syria in response to reports of chemical weapons attacks.

Not only do missiles further endanger the civilian populations, but they set back the prospects of peace, mediation and co-operation amongst the states involved in conflicts.

It is better to support civil society and build space for human rights, rather than build up a sense of injustice among local people with sanctions and bombs.

We’re privileged to live in a country where these matters seem distant. We should feel a responsibility in this privilege to redouble our support for peaceful resolution to tension and conflict.

With our new prime minister generating prominence for us on the international stage, New Zealand has an opportunity to step up our diplomatic efforts in this area as a champion for peace and disarmament. We should do so.

Thomas Nash led the global campaign to ban cluster bombs, co-founded UK-based disarmament group Article 36 and served on the board of the Nobel Prize-winning International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons. Maty Nikkhou-Brien is executive director of the New Zealand Institute of International Affairs (NZIIA). Before the NZIIA role, Maty founded and directed the Paris and Wellington-based think-tank Diplosphere.

AP President Hassan Rouhani at a ceremony to mark ‘‘National Nuclear Day’’, in Tehran, Iran, last month. Rouhani has said that despite many attempts, the US has "failed to destroy" the landmark 2015 deal between Iran and world powers.

AP North Korean President Kim Jong Un, left, and his South Korean counterpart, Moon Jae In, at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone late last week. Kim may have felt his nuclear weapons programme gave him a trump card, say the writers.