Don't Rip up the Iran Deal, Mr. President
George Perkovich
Iranian leaders were testing more than technology when they fired a medium-range ballistic missile on Sunday. They were, and are, also testing whether the new Trump administration will use any pretext to “dismantle” the 2015 nuclear deal. Tehran especially wants to see how the European Union, Russia and China would react if the U.S. threatened to do so. On Wednesday, national security adviser Michael Flynn gave his answer: “As of today, we are officially putting Iran on notice,” he said in a stern message from the White House briefing room, though he did not specify what actions the United States might be prepared to take.
Iran: Missile Tests Not in Violation of Nuclear Deal
Al Jazeera
Iran's missile tests do not involve rockets with nuclear warheads and are not part of a historic deal signed two years ago by world powers, according to the country's foreign minister. Javad Zarif affirmed his position on Tuesday, a day after White House spokesman Sean Spicer said the United States was "aware that Iran fired a missile" and was "looking into the exact nature of it".
Mattis Reaffirms Commitment to THAAD Ahead of South Korea Visit
Emiko Jozuka and Sol Han | CNN
Secretary of Defense Jim Mattis has reaffirmed the US' commitment to defend South Korea "against the evolving North Korean threat". Mattis spoke with the South Korean Defense Minister Han Minkoo Tuesday ahead of his inaugural trip as secretary of defense to visit Japan and South Korea, the US' closest Asian allies.
China Tests Missile With 10 Warheads
Bill Gertz | Washington Free Beacon
China flight tested a new variant of a long-range missile with 10 warheads in what defense officials say represents a dramatic shift in Beijing's strategic nuclear posture. The flight test of the DF-5C missile was carried out earlier this month using 10 multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles, or MIRVs. The test of the inert warheads was monitored closely by U.S. intelligence agencies, said two officials familiar with reports of the missile test.
The Nuclear Options: How to Build a Nuclear-Power Plant
Economist
In much of the world, building a nuclear-power plant looks like a terrible business prospect. The delays lift costs, and make nuclear less competitive with other sources of electricity, such as gas, coal and renewables. Yet relative upstarts in South Korea and China show that large reactors, such as the four 1,400-megawatt (MW) ones in Abu Dhabi, can be built. Moreover, the business case for a new breed of small reactors below 300MW is improving. This month, Oregon-based NuScale Power became the first American firm to apply for certification of a small modular reactor (SMR) design with America’s nuclear regulators.
Russia’s Nuclear Attack on Europe
Sara Stefanini | Politico
For years, the European Union has struggled to slip the Russian stranglehold on its supplies of natural gas. Now, just as it is beginning to do so, plans to upgrade a Russian-built power plant are raising concerns that the Continent is about to fall into Moscow’s nuclear embrace.