After Iran Nuclear Deal, Rouhani and Supreme Leader Battle Over Reforms
Michael Kaplan | International Business Times
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani kicked off a visit to Europe Monday with hopes of signing mega-business deals just one week after crippling sanctions were lifted against Iran as part of a nuclear deal reached last summer. The trade trip marked the first visit of an Iranian president to Europe in nearly two decades and comes as Rouhani was expected to begin pushing forward reforms at home, where human rights abuses are rampant and poverty widespread.
India, France to Build 6 Nuclear Reactors at Jaitapur Planet
Sputnik News
India and France intend to construct six nuclear reactors within the framework of the Jaitapur Nuclear Power Project, India’s Foreign Secretary Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said Monday. According to a statement issued following the meeting of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and French President Francois Hollande on Monday, the final stage of the negotiations on the issue is expected to conclude within 2016 while construction should begin in early 2017.
Japan to Restart Second Nuclear Power Plant After Two-Year Hiatus
Elizabeth Shim | UPI
A nuclear power plant that went offline after the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi disaster is resuming operations. The Takahama nuclear power plant in western Japan is to restart as early as Friday. A local government in Shiga Prefecture and Kansai Electric, a utility, signed an agreement on safety issues Monday, Kyodo News reported.
Russia Pledges $300,000 to IAEA's Innovative Nuclear Reactors Project
Sputnik News
The state-run Russian corporation Rosatom will contribute some 24.6 million rubles ($315,000 at the current exchange rate) in 2016 to the International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles (INPRO), according to a corresponding government directive published on Russia's official legal information portal, Monday.
Iran Sees Business Ties "Normalizing"
Dow Jones Business News
Business ties between Iranian and foreign business are returning to normal after nuclear sanctions on Iran were lifted, even as the Islamic Republic works on having other sanctions removed, the country's deputy foreign minister Seyyed Abbas Araghchi said on Monday. "Things are gradually moving toward normalization of business between Iranian entities and foreign entities," Mr. Araghchi told reporters, a little more than a week after Iran and western countries agreed to lift sanctions on the country.
Stratcom: China Moving Rapidly to Deploy New Hypersonic Glider
Bill Gertz | Washington Free Beacon
China conducted six successful tests of a new high-speed hypersonic glide vehicle, the most recent in November, and also recently tested an anti-satellite missile, the commander of the U.S. Strategic Command said Friday. Adm. Cecil D. Haney, the commander in charge of nuclear forces, said the tests are part of a worrying military buildup by China, which also includes China’s aggressive activities in the South China Sea.