Iran Nuclear Deal Parties Meet in Vienna Amid U.S. Pressure
Al Jazeera
The signatories to the faltering Iran nuclear deal are meeting in Vienna as the United States urges the reimposition of international sanctions on Tehran and the extension of the conventional arms embargo against it. Britain, China, France, Germany and Russia are struggling to save the 2015 landmark accord with Iran, which has been progressively stepping up its nuclear activities since last year. Tehran insists it is entitled to do so under the deal - which swapped sanctions relief for Iran's agreement to scale back its nuclear programme - following the US withdrawal from the accord in 2018 and its reimposition of sanctions on Iran. In a boost to Tuesday's talks, the Iranian atomic energy last week agreed for inspectors of the United Nations' nuclear watchdog to visit two sites suspected of having hosted undeclared activity in the early 2000s.
Iran Sanctions Dispute Poses New Challenge for the UN
Katrina Manson and Michael Peel | Financial Times
The dispute between members of the UN’s Security Council over the reimposition of UN sanctions on Iran has thrown an engine of postwar multilateralism into paralysis. The Trump administration argues that UN sanctions on Iran should come back into force 30 days after its decision last month to reimpose them under the terms of a nuclear accord from which it withdrew two years ago. But the other four permanent members of the Security Council — China, France, Russia and the UK — oppose a US move they say lacks legal standing because Washington has left the UN-backed accord. There is no procedure to determine which side is correct, threatening permanent stasis and adding weight to calls for reform. European observers said the dispute over the Iran deal posed a grave threat to the credibility of the Security Council.
With a Wary Eye on China, Taiwan Moves to Revamp Its Military
Steven Lee Myers and Javier C. Hernández | New York Times
On a cloudy day last month, thousands of soldiers massed on a beach in central Taiwan for the culmination of five days of exercises intended to demonstrate how the island’s military would repel an invasion from China. Jets, helicopters and artillery and missile batteries fired live ammunition at targets offshore, sending plumes of sea spray into the air. Then, a few hours later, a military helicopter taking part in the same exercise crashed at an airfield farther up the coast, killing two pilots and casting a shadow over the show of force. China’s growing aggression across Asia in recent months has created fears that it may make brash moves in Taiwan, the South China Sea or elsewhere. The ruling Communist Party’s recent crackdown on dissent and activism in Hong Kong, a former British colony that has long been a bastion of democratic values, has added to those concerns.
India, China Hold Talks Amid ‘Volatile’ Border Situation
Al Jazeera
Indian and Chinese military commanders have held talks for a second day as rival soldiers confront each other at their contested Himalayan border in Ladakh, bringing fears of a military escalation. Both of the Asian giants have accused the other of fresh provocations, including allegations of soldiers crossing into each other's territory, months after their deadliest standoff in decades. Details of the talks which resumed on Tuesday morning weren't immediately disclosed. China and India have been holding dialogue to negotiate a Chinese withdrawal from the border since May when the Peoples Liberation Army (PLA) troops transgressed into the Indian side of the de facto border known as Line of Actual Control (LAC). Tens of thousands of troops from the rivals sides have amassed across the disputed border since then. The border conflagration escalated on June 15 when 20 Indian soldiers were killed in clashes in Ladakh's Galwan Valley.
Japan and U.S. Defense Chiefs Hold Talks in Guam as China Tensions Build
The Japan Times
Defense Minister Taro Kono and U.S. counterpart Mark Esper agreed in Guam on Saturday that they will keep China’s maritime assertiveness in the South and East China seas in check. “As for the South and East China seas, we confirmed that Japan and the United States will strongly oppose countries unilaterally changing the status quo by force,” Kono said in an online news conference after meeting with Esper at Andersen Air Force Base. Beijing is involved in territorial disputes with Tokyo and a number of other Asian neighbors in the waters. Pentagon officials said China fired four ballistic missiles into the South China Sea on Wednesday in an apparent warning to U.S. reconnaissance planes flying near areas where Beijing has been conducting naval drills.
ARRW to Mayhem to the Future of Hypersonic Weapons
Theresa Hitchens | Breaking Defense
The Air Force is still trying to craft its concept of operations (CONOPS) for hypersonic missiles — with the Air-launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) providing the service’s first opportunity for real-world assessment. Air Force Global Strike Command envisions a rolling wave of various hypersonic missile types hitting service inventories over the next few years as the service figures out how to employ such capabilities — with the ARRW leading as an “early to the fight” demonstrator, says Maj. Gen. Mark Weatherington, commander of the 8th Air Force and the Joint-Global Strike Operations Center. “Obviously, they’re competing systems out there right now and I think everybody’s competing for the dollars that might be in this hypersonic capability area. But I think we will see kind of an uneven development. We’ll see some systems that are early to the fight — ARRW may be one of those to demonstrate some capability,” he told the Mitchell Institute today.