Between Seoul and Sole Purpose: How the Biden Administration Could Assure South Korea and Adapt Nuclear Posture
Toby Dalton | War on the Rocks
Can Washington keep its friends feeling secure and, at the same time, reduce the prominence of nuclear weapons in its national security? That is the needle that President Joe Biden’s administration will try to thread as it faces growing policy tension between alliance management requirements and anticipated adjustments to the U.S. nuclear posture. Regional threats in Asia and Europe are growing more complex, whether from North Korea’s burgeoning nuclear missile arsenal, China’s combative “wolf warrior” diplomacy, or Russia’s use of cyber attacks and attempted assassinations. The United States also confronts a credibility deficit resulting from President Donald Trump’s transactional treatment of America’s traditional security allies. As a result, U.S. allies in both Asia and Europe express greater fears of alliance decoupling and demand more U.S. assurances.
Iran and North Korea Resumed Cooperation on Missiles, UN Says
David Wainer | Bloomberg
Iran and North Korea cooperated on long-range missile development projects last year, according to a confidential United Nations report that may pressure the Biden administration to respond to one of its first major geopolitical crises. “This resumed cooperation is said to have included the transfer of critical parts, with the most recent shipment associated with this relationship taking place in 2020,” an independent panel of experts monitoring sanctions on North Korea said in the report, citing a member state. Frequently on the fringes of international diplomacy, North Korea and Iran have long had a secretive, mutually beneficial relationship. The UN panel received information showing that Iran’s Shahid Haj Ali Movahed Research Center received “support and assistance” from North Korean missile specialists for a space launch vehicle, and that North Korea was involved in certain shipments to Iran.
China Claims It Has Conducted a New Midcourse Intercept Anti-Ballistic Missile Test
Joseph Trevithick | The Drive
Details are still limited, but the Chinese government says that it has carried out an anti-ballistic missile test. State media reports say that the goal was to demonstrate capabilities to intercept an intermediate-range ballistic missile, or IRBM, during the midcourse portion of its flight. However, these kinds of interceptors can also double as anti-satellite weapons. China's Ministry of Defense announced the test on Feb. 4, 2021, and said it achieved all of its goals, but offered no additional details, including whether an actual intercept of any kind had taken place. Chinese authorities also insisted that the test was purely defensive in nature and was not meant a signal to any country in particular.
Biden Stays Silent on Iran as his Team Works to Break Nuclear Impasse
Nicole Gaouette, Kylie Atwood, and Jennifer Hansler | CNN
President Joe Biden presented a sweeping vision of the global challenges facing the US in a Thursday speech that touched on Russia's attacks on US democracy, China's corrosive human rights record and the Burmese military's authoritarian putsch but had one notable omission: The President made no mention of Iran. In a striking counterpoint to Biden's public silence on Tehran, his administration has launched intense behind-the-scenes efforts, reflecting an urgency that administration officials say is needed to address the country's nuclear program, missiles and regional activity, and to resolve the question of how and whether to rejoin the Iran nuclear deal.
Iran’s Spy Chief Says Tehran Could Seek Nuclear Arms if ‘Cornered’ by West
Reuters
Iran’s intelligence minister said persistent Western pressure could push Tehran to fight back like a “cornered cat” and seek nuclear weapons, which the Islamic Republic has for years insisted it has no intention of ever developing. The remarks made in a television interview are a rare suggestion that Iran might have an interest in nuclear weapons, which Western nations have accused Iran of pursuing. Iranian officials have repeatedly dismissed this charge, citing a fatwa or religious decree issued in the early 2000s by the Islamic Republic’s top authority, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, that bans the development or use of nuclear arms.
South China Sea: Challenge to Beijing as French Nuclear Submarine Patrols Contested Waterway
Sarah Zheng | South China Morning Post
A French submarine carried out a patrol through the South China Sea as part of efforts by France to challenge Beijing’s sweeping claims in the disputed waters. France’s defence minister Florence Parly tweeted late on Monday that the French nuclear attack submarine Émeraude and naval support ship Seine sailed through the contentious waters to “affirm that international law is the only rule that is valid, whatever the sea where we sail”. “This extraordinary patrol just completed its passage in the South China Sea,” she wrote. “This is striking proof of the capacity of our French navy to deploy far away and for a long time, together with our Australian, American and Japanese strategic partners.”