As the North Korean crisis rekindles the Cold War-era threat of nuclear catastrophe, this year’s Nobel Peace Prize could honour efforts to limit the spread of atomic weapons, several experts suggest.
With tensions between Washington and Pyongyang sending the risk of a nuclear confrontation soaring, the highlight of the Nobel awards season will be announced in Oslo on Friday at 11:00 am (0900 GMT).
Who will bag the prestigious prize is anyone’s guess, as the names of candidates a total of 318 this year are by convention kept a closely guarded secret for 50 years.
After President Juan Manuel Santos won the prize last year for his efforts to bring peace to Colombia following a half-century-long conflict with rebel guerillas, a peace prize honouring non-proliferation efforts would be appropriate this year, commentators say.
“The Nobel committee would make a big splash if it awarded the prize to the Iran nuclear deal,” said Asle Sveen, a peace prize historian.
He said the honour could in such case go to former US secretary of state John Kerry, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini — key architects of the landmark 2015 accord.
The Iran deal, concluded with six world powers (the US, Britain, China, France, Russia and Germany) curbed Tehran’s nuclear programme in exchange for a lifting of most economic sanctions.
Its supporters say the accord ensures Iran cannot pursue an atomic bomb and shows how open dialogue can defuse even the most high-stakes crises.
But US President Donald Trump has threatened to tear it up, telling the UN General Assembly last month that the deal was “an embarrassment”.
Trump has recently fuelled a fiery dispute with North Korea over the reclusive state’s nuclear weapons programme as Pyongyang has conducted successive missile and underground atomic bomb tests.
“With North Korea also at stake, it’s very important to support initiatives that guard against the development and proliferation of nuclear weapons,” the head of the Peace Research Institute of Oslo (Prio), Henrik Urdal, said.
