Iran Sticks to Terms of Nuclear Deal, but Defies the U.S. in Other Ways
David E. Sanger | New York Times
A year after President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, the worst predictions of what would happen next have not come to pass. The Iranians, defying the expectations of the deal’s most vociferous critics, gave up 98 percent of their nuclear material. They dismantled thousands of centrifuges and filled the core of a major plutonium reactor with cement. Inspectors roam their facilities. By late January, even Israel’s top military officer said he was impressed. “The deal has actually removed the most serious danger to Israel’s existence for the foreseeable future,” Lt. Gen. Gadi Eisenkot, the chief of staff of the Israel Defense Forces, told a conference in Tel Aviv, “and greatly reduced the threat over the longer term.”
Iran’s President Warns on Breach of Nuclear Deal
Aresu Eqbali and Margherita Stancati | Wall Street Journal
Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Wednesday marked the first anniversary of his country’s landmark nuclear deal with the U.S. and other world powers with a warning that Tehran could quickly restore its nuclear capacity if the terms of accord are breached. Under the landmark deal reached in Vienna, Iran agreed to pull back its nuclear program from the verge of weapons-making capacity in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions that had crippled its economy. The pact went into effect in January.
Corker Has a New Iran Sanctions Bill, But More Bipartisan Support
may be hard to come by
Karoun Demirjian | Washington Post
After months of negotiations, Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Bob Corker is introducing a new bill to impose sanctions on Iran, as Republicans continue to warn that last year’s nuclear deal with Iran was a dangerous mistake by the Obama administration. But, so far, only two Democrats are backing the measure.
Kagoshima’s New Governor Vows to Halt Sendai Nuclear Plant for Safety Checks
Japan Times
Incoming Kagoshima Gov. Satoshi Mitazono says he plans to ask Kyushu Electric Power Co. to suspend operation of the Sendai nuclear power plant for safety checks. In an interview on Wednesday, Mitazono said he will make the request to the utility at a yet to be decided date to examine the effects of powerful earthquakes that hit nearby Kumamoto and Oita prefectures in April.
New Russian Bomber to Be Able to Launch Nuclear Attacks From Outer Space
Sputnik News
The Russian Strategic Missile Forces Academy is developing a hypersonic strategic bomber capable of striking with nuclear warheads from outer space, Lt. Col. Aleksei Solodovnikov told RIA Novosti on Wednesday. A trial model of Russia's nuclear-capable outer space strategic bomber will be developed by 2020, according to its developer.
Trident, Brexit, and Scotland's Coercion
William Walker | Centre on Constitutional Change
In the effort in 2007 to win parliamentary support for Trident’s renewal, the government told the House of Commons that its consent would be sought for a second time when the submarines’ manufacture was ready to begin (passing from Initial Gate to Main Gate in the jargon). In 2011, the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition announced that the Main Gate decision would be brought before Parliament in 2016.