Iran Renews Demands for U.S. Guarantees in Nuclear Deal Talks
Lawrence Norman | The Wall Street Journal
Iranian demands for guarantees from the U.S. have once again stalled efforts to revive a 2015 nuclear pact, leaving Washington and European capitals unsure if a deal is possible. Tehran on Monday sent a response to the European Union, which chairs the nuclear talks, neither accepting nor rejecting an EU draft text of a deal but raising several issues Iran wanted incorporated into the agreement. The EU had said its draft was the “final text” of a possible deal when it sent it out, announcing that negotiations were over.
U.S. Warns it will Deploy ‘Strategic Assets’ to South Korea if Pyongyang Conducts Nuke Test
Gabriel Dominguez | The Japan Times
Faced with the growing prospect of a fresh nuclear test by Pyongyang, Washington has said it will consider deploying to the Korean Peninsula strategic assets — which could mean anything from nuclear-powered submarines, strategic bombers or even tactical nuclear weapons — should that come to fruition. The U.S. warning, which is part of a joint deterrence strategy by Washington and Seoul, follows a two-day session held this week of the Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD).
Russia Warns Radioactive Waste Could Hit Germany if Accident Occurs at Damaged Nuclear Power Plant
Holly Ellyatt | CNBC
Russia’s Ministry of Defense warned Thursday that if an accident occurs at the nuclear power plant it is occupying in southern Ukraine, radioactive material would cover Germany, Poland and Slovakia. Igor Kirillov, the head of Russia’s radioactive, chemical and biological defense forces, said the plant’s backup support systems had been damaged as a result of shelling, Reuters reported, and that several countries in Europe could be at risk if there was an accident.
Kishida, ‘PM from Hiroshima’, is Shifting Japan’s Long-Standing Pro-Nuclear Weapons Posture
Marcus Donaldson | The Wire
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has outlined what appears to be a sincere effort to realign Japan’s position on nuclear weapons – from one that supports the maintenance of the US “nuclear umbrella” to one that aims for gradual global nuclear weapons disarmament. Previous administrations have been unwilling to challenge the nuclear weapons status quo.
Nuclear War Between the U.S. and Russia Would Kill More Than 5 Billion People – Just from Starvation, Study Finds
Li Cohen | CBS News
A nuclear blast would cause worldwide famine, according to the study, published in Nature Food on Monday, as massive amounts of soot would block sunlight, disrupt climate systems and limit food production…Even a relatively small nuclear conflict, such as one between India and Pakistan, would be devastating, researchers found…The study said after two years, with international trade at a halt and a 34.7ºF temperature drop, the famine it creates would kill 255 million people. The largest scenario examined, a week-long war involving 4,400 weapons and 150 Tg, or 330.6 billion pounds, of soot – such as one that would occur between the U.S., its allies and Russia – would kill 360 million people directly – and more than 5 billion from starvation, the study said.
Can Trump Just Declare Nuclear Secrets Unclassified?
Alex Wellerstein | Lawfare
One of the apparent defenses offered up by former President Trump’s lawyers to the discovery of highly-classified materials at Mar-a-Lago is that Trump had a “standing order” that any classified materials he took home with him were, by fiat, declassified. Never mind for a moment about whether there is any record of this order from when Trump was president or whether he had the putative power to issue it. Never mind, either, whether this means that these documents are now unclassified and should be available to anyone willing to file a Freedom of Information Act request for them. Let us instead look at whether any president actually has the power to do this, especially given that these documents allegedly contain papers related to nuclear weapons secrets.