Iran Says Next President Won’t Change Course on Nuclear Deal
Golnar Motevalli and Arsalan Shahla | Bloomberg
Iran’s approach toward restoring its nuclear deal with world powers won’t change after this month’s presidential election, a top official said, amid expectations that Hassan Rouhani will be succeeded by a hardliner critical of the accord.
U.N. Nuclear Watchdog Sees Indications of Plutonium Work in North Korea
Francois Murphy | Reuters
The U.N. atomic watchdog has seen indications in North Korea of possible reprocessing work to separate plutonium from spent reactor fuel that could be used in nuclear weapons, the head of the agency said on Monday. The International Atomic Energy Agency has not had access to the secretive state since Pyongyang expelled its inspectors in 2009. The country then pressed ahead with its nuclear weapons programme and soon resumed nuclear testing. Its last detonation of a nuclear weapon was in 2017.
Iraq Aims to Go Nuclear to Resolve Crippling Power Shortages
Khalid Al Ansary and Anthony Di Paola | Al Jazeera
Iraq is working on a plan to build nuclear reactors as the electricity-starved petrostate seeks to end the widespread blackouts that have sparked social unrest. OPEC’s No. 2 oil producer—already suffering from power shortages and insufficient investment in aging plants—needs to meet an expected 50% jump in demand by the end of the decade. Building atomic plants could help to close the supply gap, though the country will face significant financial and geopolitical challenges in bringing its plan to fruition.
B-21 Speeds to IOC; ARRW Test Slated for Next Month: Ray
Theresa Hitchens | Breaking Defense
The novel requirements and acquisition processes being used to develop the B-21 bomber will slash the time it will take to get the Raider to initial operating capability (IOC), Air Force Global Strike Commander Gen. Timothy Ray says. In a wide ranging interview with Mitchell Institute Dean David Deptula today, Ray also revealed that the Air-Launched Rapid Response Weapon (ARRW) hypersonic missile being developed for the conventional bomber fleet will undertake another flight test next month, after failing the first flight test of its booster in April.
White House Defends Biden-Putin Summit, Calling it ‘Vital’ for Defending American Interests
Maegan Vazquez and Allie Malloy | CNN
The White House is defending President Joe Biden’s upcoming meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Geneva next week, saying it’s “vital” to protecting America’s interests. “At the end of the day, what we are looking to do is for the two Presidents to be able to send a clear signal ... to their teams on questions of strategic stability so we can make progress on arms control and other nuclear areas to reduce tension and instability in that aspect of their relationship,” White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan said during Monday’s White House press briefing. However, Sullivan seemed to lower expectations for the summit, telling reporters that “if you are going to wait for really significant deliverables, you could be waiting for a long time, conceivably.”
For State Department’s No. 2, Another Turn at High-Stakes Diplomacy
Lara Jakes | New York Times
Six years ago, the American diplomat Wendy R. Sherman made her mark on the world stage by negotiating a landmark nuclear deal with Iran. Reviving that agreement, after the Trump administration all but scuttled it, is a top priority for President Biden. Yet even as new Iran talks continue in Vienna, Ms. Sherman, named by Mr. Biden as the first woman to serve as deputy secretary of state, has largely shifted her attention to another complex and daunting challenge: helping to manage the tense relationship between the United States and China.