At the same time, the Department will work to protect American citizens and interests overseas. Consular and infrastructure protection programs play a critical role in protecting American borders, transportation systems, and critical infrastructure. The Department will ensure robust consular policies and systems; strengthen borders to protect the homeland; and will work with partners to deny access to individuals who pose risks to U.S national security.  

Weapons Proliferation

Counter the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) and their Delivery Systems  

Proliferant states and terrorist groups are acquiring or seeking to acquire increasingly dangerous weapons to threaten American interests or the U.S. homeland directly. North Korea recently developed an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) with the stated objective of striking the United States. Its unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs pose an urgent threat to international security. Multiple countries possess clandestine chemical or biological programs in violation of international conventions or commitments, and the Syrian regime and ISIS have deployed chemical weapons. ISIS and other terrorist groups seek to use nuclear, radiological, chemical, and biological materials in terrorist attacks, including on the homeland. Iran is aggressively pursuing the development and testing of sophisticated ballistic missiles that may be capable of delivering nuclear weapons. Iran’s proliferation of advanced missiles and missile technologies to its proxies and partners fuels local civil wars, destabilizes the region, and poses imminent threats to international shipping and our closest allies in the Middle East. A number of other countries of proliferation concern are also pursuing ballistic missile capabilities, relying on acquisition of equipment, components, and expertise from foreign suppliers, as well as developing indigenous capabilities. In fact, we recommit to ensuring Iran never acquires a nuclear weapon or develops an ICBM, the latter of which was primarily designed to deliver a nuclear payload. In addition to traditional WMD threats, emerging technologies blur the lines between materials and equipment that can be used either for commercial use or for conventional and nuclear weapons. Worldwide availability of chemical agents and dangerous pathogens, access to dual-use life science research, and individuals and networks that make use of geographic smuggling pathways and illicit business relationships to profit from WMD proliferation complicate this task. The United States must stop this spread of WMD and counter these threats to U.S. and international security. Strategies for Achieving the Objective The Department will pursue diplomatic solutions to proliferation challenges, and rally international support for sanctions against proliferant nations. The threat posed by North Korea’s unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs requires immediate international attention and the Department continues to urge all countries to cut diplomatic, financial, economic, and military ties with North Korea. We will continue to lead efforts to impose and enforce sanctions – whether nationally, in conjunction with like-minded states, or through the UN Security Council – on principal sectors of the North Korean economy, or on entities and individuals supporting North Korea’s proliferation programs. The Department will continue efforts to strengthen and improve international weapons conventions, nonproliferation treaties, and multilateral export control regimes, such as the Chemical Weapons Convention, the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and the Biological Weapons Convention. In addition, we will continue to support the New START Treaty, which provides transparency and predictability regarding the world’s two largest nuclear arsenals in the United States and the Russian Federation. We will also work to strengthen means for interdicting shipments of proliferation concern, and other states’ capacities to prevent proliferant transfers.