A Lesson in Courage From Kazakhstan
Togzhan Kassenova | Inkstick
In the late 1950s, despite facing high personal risks, a group of doctors from Kazakhstan’s Institute of Regional Pathology carried out a large-scale medical expedition to the villages near the Soviet nuclear testing site in the Semipalatinsk region. Their three-year effort generated clinical data that showed that nuclear tests harmed people, resulting in numerous illnesses. Today, the national security field reckons with the fact that nuclear testing has caused significant harm to communities and the environment. Our knowledge, however, would not have been possible without the bravery and courage of medical professionals like those in Kazakhstan, who not only conducted this kind of research against all odds, but also recorded the truth.
North Korea Confirms Launch of Longest-Range Missile Since 2017
Colin Zwirko | NK News
North Korea launched a Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile (IRBM) on Sunday to “verify its accuracy,” state media reported on Monday, without mentioning the presence of leader Kim Jong Un. The test — the longest-range weapon that the DPRK has tested since Nov. 2017 and the first of the Hwasong-12 since Sept. 2017 — was carried out by the Academy of Defense Science and the Second Economic Commission, according to the state-run Voice of Korea (VOK). It “was aimed at selectively checking the ground-to-ground mid- and long-distance ballistic missile ‘Hwasong-12’ under production for equipment and verifying the accuracy of the overall weapon system,” the report said.
Time for Iran to Make ‘Tough Decisions’ on Whether to Revive 2015 Nuclear Deal, Says U.S. Official
Dan De Luce, Andrea Mitchell, and Abigail Williams | NBC News
Nuclear talks between world powers and Iran are entering the “final stretch” and leaders in Tehran must now make tough political decisions about whether to return to the 2015 nuclear deal, a senior State Department official said Monday. After the latest round of talks in Vienna produced progress, the negotiations have reached a critical stage, and Iran and other governments should decide whether to press ahead to clinch an agreement, the official told reporters.
Iran Moves Centrifuge-Parts Production out of Disputed Workshop, IAEA Says
Francois Murphy | Reuters
Iran has moved production of parts for advanced centrifuges, used to enrich uranium, out of a workshop only a month after agreeing to allow the U.N. nuclear watchdog to reinstall surveillance cameras there, the watchdog said on Monday. The move adds to uncertainty over Iran’s nuclear activities while indirect talks between Tehran and Washington on saving the 2015 Iran nuclear deal are at a delicate stage. Western powers say there are only weeks left before Iran’s atomic advances have hollowed out the deal completely.
Japan Not Closing Door on Hosting American INF Missiles
Alexander Ward and Quint Forgey | POLITICO
Japan is potentially open to hosting once-banned American intermediate-range missiles pending the results of a defense policy review, per the country’s ambassador to the United States — previewing what could be a dramatic escalation in Indo-Pacific tensions in just a few years’ time. Speaking to NatSec Daily shortly after Prime Minister Kishida Fumio spoke virtually with President Joe Biden, the ambassador said that leaders in Tokyo are weighing the idea of putting ground-based ballistic and cruise missiles capable of hitting China and North Korea on Japanese soil, though it’s far from a done deal.
Pentagon Report: Air Force Should Work With Army, Navy on Hypersonic Best Practices
Greg Hadley | Air Force Magazine
The Air Force should work closely with the Army, Navy, and Defense Department to identify best practices and share data as it looks to get its hypersonic missile program back on track, according to the recommendations of a new Pentagon report released Jan. 27. The AGM-183A Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon is intended to be the Air Force’s first hypersonic weapon, deployed in the early 2020s. But over the course of 2021, the weapon failed three booster flight tests, raising fears that the program could be delayed.