Conventional Long-Range Strike Weapons of U.S. Allies and China’s Concerns of Strategic Stability
Tong Zhao | Nonproliferation Review
Conventional long-range strike weapons of U.S. allies may exacerbate Chinese concerns about the survivability of its small nuclear arsenal against a precision pre-emptive strike from the U.S.-led coalition, although the degree of the new threat depends on various factors including the numbers and types of such weapons to be deployed. Conventional hypersonic missiles, in particular, may generate acute threat perception, as they can play the role of “door kicker” against China’s so-called anti-access, area-denial capabilities and pave the way for subsequent massive strikes with more traditional weapons. The development of conventional long-range-strike weapons by U.S. allies also affects the risk of conventional conflicts escalating inadvertently to the nuclear level.
North Korea Mass Producing Ballistic Missile Transporters: Sources
Tomotaro Inoue | Kyodo News
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un around February last year ordered the mass production of vehicles used for transporting and launching missiles including intercontinental ballistic missiles, Kyodo News has learned. To cover the expense of acquiring parts for around 70 so-called transporter-erector-launchers from countries including China, tens of millions of dollars were allocated to trading entities under the ruling party's munitions department, according to a source familiar with China-North Korea relations. The disclosure indicates that North Korea is working on strengthening its nuclear and missile capabilities while engaging in negotiations with the United States, casting doubt on its willingness to abandon its nuclear program.
Seoul: N. Korea may Conduct Underwater-Launched Missile Test
Hyung-Jin Kim | Associated Press
North Korea may soon conduct its first underwater-launched ballistic missile test in about a year, a top South Korean military official said Wednesday, amid long-stalled nuclear talks between the North and the United States. In written remarks to lawmakers ahead of a confirmation hearing, Won In-choul, the nominee for chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff, said North Korea has been repairing recent typhoon damage at its northeastern Sinpo shipyard, a place where it builds submarines. Shortly after the repairs are complete, there is a chance it will carry out a submarine-launched ballistic missile test, Won said. He said South Korea’s military is keeping a close watch on developments there, according to a copy of his remarks provided by a lawmaker, Kang Dae-sik.
U.S. Plans to Enforce UN Sanctions on Iran With its own Action
Arshad Mohammed and Michelle Nichols | Reuters
The United States said on Wednesday it plans to impose sanctions on those who violate a U.N. arms embargo on Iran, which Washington says will now stay in place instead of expiring in October as agreed under a 2015 nuclear deal. U.S. Special Representative for Venezuela and Iran Elliott Abrams said Washington could deny access to the U.S. market to anyone who trades in weapons with Iran, which President Donald Trump’s administration accuses of seeking to develop nuclear weapons. Iran has denied it is developing nuclear weapons. In 2018 Trump quit the Iran nuclear deal - under which Tehran limited its nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief - and reimposed U.S. sanctions. Washington also says it has triggered a return of all U.N. sanctions on Iran, which would take effect this weekend.
Pentagon Pushes Back on Claim That U.S. to Leave Turkey’s Incirlik Base
Al-Monitor
A Pentagon spokesman pushed back on Tuesday on a claim by U.S. Senator Ron Johnson that officials in Washington are considering a withdrawal of U.S. forces from the Incirlik airbase in Turkey and looking to the Greek island of Crete as an alternative. U.S. Army Lt. Col. Thomas Campbell told the Anadolu Agency that the Pentagon “has no plans to end our presence at Incirlik airbase.” Johnson told The Washington Examiner on Friday that US officials were considering shifting forces to Souda Bay on Crete, where the US Navy maintains a presence at the deep-water NATO port. “We don't know what's gonna happen to Incirlik,” Johnson, a Republican of Wisconsin, said last week. “We hope for the best, but we have to plan for the worst.”
Revealed: Saudi Arabia may Have Enough Uranium ore to Produce Nuclear Fuel
Emma Graham-Harrison, Stephanie Kirchgaessner, and Julian Borger | Guardian
Saudi Arabia likely has enough mineable uranium ore reserves to pave the way for the domestic production of nuclear fuel, according to confidential documents seen by the Guardian. Details of the stocks are contained in reports prepared for the kingdom by Chinese geologists, who have been scrambling to help Riyadh map its uranium reserves at breakneck speed as part of their nuclear energy cooperation agreement. The disclosure will intensify concerns about Riyadh’s interest in an atomic weapons programme. The survey report describes how geologists worked all year round despite blistering summer heat to identify reserves that could produce over 90,000 tonnes of uranium from three major deposits in the centre and northwest of the country.
Japanese Nuclear Policy After Hiroshima, After Abe, and After Nov. 3
Masakatsu Ota | War on the Rocks
On the morning of Aug. 6, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan delivered a cautious statement in front of the Hibakushas, the victims of the atomic bombs dropped on two major Japanese cities. One of the two cities, Hiroshima, marked the 75th anniversary of the nuclear assault that day. A diminished number of participants, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, carefully listened to Abe’s message as it echoed over the solemn ceremony in Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. “As the only country to have experienced the horror of nuclear devastation in war, Japan has the unceasing mission of advancing steadily, step by step, the efforts of the international community towards realizing ‘a world free of nuclear weapons,’” Abe said.