Iran Says It Will Quit Global Nuclear Treaty If Case Goes to UN
Babak Dehghanpisheh | Reuters
Iran said on Monday it could quit the global nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if European countries refer it to the U.N. Security Council over a nuclear agreement, a move that would overturn diplomacy in its confrontation with the West. The 1968 NPT has been the foundation of global nuclear arms control since the Cold War, including a 2015 deal Iran signed with world powers that offered it access to global trade in return for accepting curbs to its atomic program. The fate of the 2015 pact has been in doubt since U.S. President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of it and reimposed sanctions. Iran has responded by scaling back its commitments, although it says it wants the pact to survive. Britain, France and Germany declared Iran in violation of the 2015 pact last week and have launched a dispute mechanism that could eventually see the matter referred back to the Security Council and the reimposition of U.N. sanctions. The only country ever to declare its withdrawal from the NPT was North Korea, which expelled nuclear inspectors and openly tested atomic weapons.
North Korea Abandons Nuclear Freeze Pledge, Blames ‘Brutal’ US Sanctions
Stephanie Nebehay | Reuters
North Korea said on Tuesday it was no longer bound by commitments to halt nuclear and missile testing, blaming the United States’ failure to meet a year-end deadline for nuclear talks and “brutal and inhumane” U.S. sanctions. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un set an end-December deadline for denuclearization talks with the United States and White House national security adviser Robert O’Brien said at the time the United States had opened channels of communication. O’Brien said then he hoped Kim would follow through on denuclearization commitments he made at summits with U.S. President Donald Trump. Ju Yong Chol, a counselor at North Korea’s mission to the U.N. in Geneva, said that over the past two years, his country had halted nuclear tests and test firing of inter-continental ballistic missiles “in order to build confidence with the United States”. But the United States had responded by conducting dozens of joint military exercises with South Korea on the divided peninsula and by imposing sanctions, he said. “If the United States tries to enforce unilateral demands and persists in imposing sanctions, North Korea may be compelled to seek a new path.” U.S. military commanders said any new path could include the testing of a long-range missile, which North Korea has suspended since 2017, along with nuclear warhead tests.
US Military Leader Expresses Full Confidence in Ability to Defend Against New North Korean Missiles
Lee Haye-ah | Yonhap News Agency
The vice chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff said Friday that he has “100 percent confidence” in the U.S. ability to defend itself from new North Korean missiles. Air Force Gen. John Hyten made the remark during a seminar at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, noting that North Korea has made significant strides in its missile development. “I don't say 100 percent very often. I have 100 percent confidence in those capabilities against North Korea,” he said, referring to U.S. missile defense systems. “That's what they're built for. They're built for North Korea. They're not built for anything else ... and they're going to work against North Korea, God forbid, if we ever have to.” At the same time, Hyten said, North Korea has developed a ballistic missile program that can threaten the U.S. despite being one of the poorest countries in the world. “You want to know what's different about North Korea? They learned how to go fast,” he said, citing the increase in missile tests under current leader Kim Jong-un.
India Successfully Test-Fires 3,500 km Range Submarine-Launched Ballistic Missile K-4
Dinakar Peri | Hindu
India on Sunday successfully test-fired the 3,500-km range submarine-launched ballistic missile, K-4, official sources confirmed. The test was carried out by the Defence Research and Development Organsiation (DRDO) from a submerged pontoon off the Visakhapatnam coast around noon. The missile has been tested several times earlier as part of developmental trials to validate different parameters, the source said. “The missile ejecting from a submerged platform to the surface [sea] is the toughest part.” There are very few countries which have managed to achieve this technological breakthrough, a second official source said. “Our Circular Error Probability (CEP) is much more sophisticated than Chinese missiles,” the source said. The CEP determines the accuracy of a missile. The lower the CEP, the more accurate the missile is. Once inducted, these missiles will be the mainstay of the Arihant class of indigenous ballistic missile nuclear submarines (SSBN) and will give India the stand off capability to launch nuclear weapons submerged in Indian waters. In November 2019, India formally declared its nuclear triad stated in its nuclear doctrine operational after INS Arihant completed its first deterrence patrol which means Arihant has begun prowling the deep seas carrying ballistic missiles equipped with nuclear warheads.
More Than Half the World's Millennials Fear a Nuclear Attack This Decade
Alex Ward | Vox
A majority of millennials around the world believe it’s more likely than not that a nuclear attack will happen sometime in the next 10 years — a sign that younger adults’ views on global affairs is exceedingly bleak. The International Committee of the Red Cross, a worldwide humanitarian organization, surveyed 16,000 millennials — adults between the ages of 20 and 35 — in 16 countries and territories last year: Afghanistan, Colombia, France, Indonesia, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Palestinian Territories, Russia, South Africa, Syria, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and the United States. “More than half of millennials — 54 percent — believe it is likely that a nuclear attack will occur in the next decade,” reads the report. However, respondents said that nuclear weapons were the least concerning of the 12 different issues they were asked to rank, with corruption topping the list followed by unemployment and increasing poverty. Interestingly, the study also found that “the clear majority of millennials think that wars and armed conflict are avoidable, with those from war-affected countries/territories more hopeful than those in conflict-free countries.”
Iran Likely to Field Nuclear Ballistic Missile in 2 Years: Israel Intelligence
Arie Egozi | Breaking Defense
Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) intelligence says Iran is two years from a capability to equip one of its ballistic missiles with nuclear warhead. Such a development would constitute a red line, an Israeli official says: “The clock ticks toward this point, and Israel will know exactly when the foot will be put on the red line or very near to it.” However, Iran has not yet built a nuclear weapon. And reducing a nuclear weapon to the size and weight allowing it to be carried on a ballistic missile is challenging, though Iran has demonstrated impressive engineering chops in some of its nuclear work. Once Iran builds such a warhead, Israeli experts told Breaking D that all Iranian ballistic missiles with at least a diameter of 4.1 feet can be fitted to carry one. An example is the Shahab-3, a medium-range ballistic missile developed by Iran and based on the North Korean Nodong-1. The Shahab-3 has a range of 620 miles. All signs indicate that Israel has been preparing a major plan if Iran attacks or gets to this red line. Two nights ago, for example, “an unknown force” attacked an Iranian missile shipment at the largest Syrian air base, known as T-4, sources here say. So, while hostilities may get much hotter should Iran cross the red line, hostilities appear to be already playing out across the region almost day by day.