| Dear Express Explained reader, Following the US attack on Iranian nuclear facilities, fears were expressed about possible radiation leaks or even an explosion of some kind. Those fears have turned out to be unfounded, and official US government reports have suggested that the attacks caused no lasting damage to the Iranian nuclear program – even though President Trump and senior officials of his administration have continued to insist that it has been “obliterated”. Also, Iran, despite having issued threats of walking out of the treaty on nuclear non-proliferation, has stayed put so far. Amitabh Sinha tracked the sequence of events as the Americans and the Israelis carried out attacks on the Iranian nuclear facilities, and explained the impact of these actions in terms of the likely safety risks they posed. Thankfully, hitting nuclear material or equipment with conventional bombs cannot by itself lead to a nuclear explosion. This is because nuclear bombs work differently from other kinds of bombs, drawing their huge destructive power from a chain reaction that can be initiated only under very precise, specific conditions that cannot emerge randomly or by accident. A radiation leak under the stress of an attack by a bomb or missile is possible, though – but even then, such dispersal of radioactive substances would likely be localised within the heavily fortified facility itself. Now that the conflict has stopped, the International Atomic Energy Agency, the body tasked with monitoring Iran’s nuclear program, faces the task of assessing what impact the bombings and missile attacks have had. And what of the wider, geopolitical concerns about the post-war situation in the Middle East and beyond? Bashir Ali Abbas analysed Iran’s calibrated response to the attacks, and what challenges and concerns its leadership would be most occupied with in the coming weeks and months. It’s been 50 years since the imposition of the Emergency, and the country has changed dramatically in almost every way since then. However, some aspects of that dark period in India’s democracy continue to resonate, and remain relevant even today. It is for this reason that The Indian Express has been running a series of reports, analyses, and commentary this month, with the hope of providing recall, context, and perspective about the Emergency for the two generations of Indian citizens who have grown up since then. Do check out The Emergency page on our website; for those who would like just a basic understanding, I would recommend Vikas Pathak’s short history of the Emergency, and Apurva Vishwanath’s recall of the ways in which the government of Indira Gandhi turned the Constitution against itself, using its provisions to subvert some of its most fundamental features. Talks on a trade deal between India and the US are in an advanced stage, and Trump has said that a “very big one” is on the way, and that America is “going to open up India”. A major sticking point in the negotiations has been the increased market access sought by the Americans for agricultural products. Harish Damodaran this week wrote about India’s soyabean and sugar industries, and why they are worried about the possible concessions that the agreement with the US might entail. The trade deal is likely to be an important story in the coming week, so do read. Thank you for reading The Indian Express Explained. There is a large body of explanatory journalism, on a wide range of topics, on our website, and I hope you will check it out soon if you haven’t already. Also, many of our best explainers are now behind a paywall, so I hope you will subscribe. Sincerely, Monojit |
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