Iranian Rocket Launch Ends in Failure, Imagery Shows
Geoff Brumfiel | NPR
Satellite imagery shared exclusively with NPR shows that an Iranian rocket appears to have exploded on the launch pad Thursday. The imagery from the commercial company Planet and shared via the Middlebury Institute of International Studies shows smoke billowing from the pad at the Imam Khomeini Space Center in northern Iran. The pad had been given a fresh coat of paint in recent days, and numerous vehicles had been spotted around the site in preparation for the launch attempt. “This look likes the space launch vehicle blew up on the launch pad,” says Dave Schmerler, a senior research associate at the Middlebury Institute who has analyzed the imagery taken Thursday. “This failure happened maybe a couple of minutes before the image was taken.” The failure is the third this year. In January and February, Iran attempted to launch two rockets, both of which failed to reach orbit. The exact type of rocket that failed Thursday is unclear, but the circular pad had previously been used to launch a type of two-stage, liquid-fueled rocket known as the Safir. The rocket is relatively small and can carry only small satellites into orbit. Earlier this month, Iran said one such satellite, known as Nahid-1, was ready to be launched.
EU Insists Iran Nuclear Deal Must Be Part of Any Future Pact
Lorne Cook | AP
The European Union’s top diplomat said Thursday that the existing nuclear deal between Iran and world powers must not be sacrificed as part of any U.S. moves to forge a new security agreement with Tehran amid attempts to set up a meeting between President Donald Trump and his Iranian counterpart. At a G7 summit on Monday, Trump said there’s a “really good chance” he could meet Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, although Rouhani wants sanctions lifted before agreeing to such high-profile talks. Asked at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Finland what a possible meeting might mean for the Europeans, the bloc’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said the pact aimed at curbing Iran’s nuclear ambitions is a multinational agreement enshrined in a U.N. Security Council resolution and that “what is existing needs to be preserved.” German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said it’s important for all sides to take advantage of Trump’s new willingness to hold talks. “Now it’s about operationalizing that and making sure everyone makes a contribution, including Iran, which leads to de-escalation in the region,” Maas told reporters. During their talks in Helsinki, the ministers debated ways to help provide maritime security in the Straits of Hormuz, following an American appeal for countries to take part in a naval mission there. Germany has ruled out taking part, but the EU more broadly is mulling whether to play some kind of observer role.
Pakistan Ups Nuclear Rhetoric, Carries Out Launch of Ballistic Missile
Ajay Banerjee | Tribune
Pakistan has successfully test-fired surface-to-surface ballistic missile ‘Ghaznavi’, capable of delivering multiple warheads up to 290 km, the Army said on Thursday, amid fresh Indo-Pak tensions after India revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. The Director General of Inter Service Public Relations (DG-ISPR) said Pakistan on Wednesday night tested a short range nuclear missile in Sindh. Called ‘Ghaznavi’, it is a short-range-solid-fuelled, road-mobile-ballistic missile. Three days ago, on August 26, Pakistan had informed India about the test of a short-range ballistic missile. It is a surface-to-surface weapon, meaning it can be fired from ground and hit targets on ground. The move comes after Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan in a recent broadcast to his nation on Kashmir said: “If the conflict for Kashmir heads towards a war, then remember both nations have nuclear weapons and no one is a winner in a nuclear war. This conflict will have global consequence.”
Non-Extensions of U.S.-Russia New START Treaty to Have Fatal Consequences for Strategic Stability – Kremlin
Tim Korso | Sputnik
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov warned in a statement on 26 August that a potential refusal to prolong the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) by the US could have grave consequences for the entire world. “The consequences for global strategic stability will be rather harmful. Strategic stability in general on a global scale will undoubtedly be damaged because we, all humanity, will be practically left without a single document regulating the sphere [of nuclear armaments]”, the spokesman said. Peskov further noted that the issue of prolonging New START has already been raised by Russian President Vladimir Putin in talks with US counterpart Donald Trump, but so far Washington has “shown no signs” that it's ready to discuss the treaty's future.
TEPCO Mulls Kashiwazaki Decommissioning
Jiji Press | Japan News
Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. is considering a plan to decommission some of the No. 1 to No. 5 reactors at its Kashiwazaki-Kariwa nuclear power plant, on condition that its newer No. 6 and No. 7 reactors are allowed to resume operations, TEPCO President Tomoaki Kobayakawa said Monday. Kobayakawa unveiled the plan in a meeting with Masahiro Sakurai, mayor of Kashiwazaki, Niigata Prefecture. The nuclear plant straddles Kashiwazaki facing the Sea of Japan and the village of Kariwa in the prefecture. Under TEPCO’s basic plan shown to the Kashiwazaki municipal government, the company will take steps, including possible decommissioning, for at least one of the No. 1 to No. 5 reactors within five years of the restart of the No. 6 and No. 7 reactors if it makes progress in securing nonfossil fuel power sources.
India, Russia to Seal Nuclear Pact Next Week
Elizabeth Roche | Live Mint
Russia hopes to conclude a new pact for building six more nuclear power plants in India during next week’s visit to Vladivostok by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian ambassador to India Nikolay Kudashev said. The trip is expected to open a “new chapter" in the “special and privileged strategic partnership," between the two countries, he said on Wednesday. Speaking to reporters ahead of Modi’s 4-5 September visit to Russia, Kudashev strongly backed India’s position on the revocation of Article 370 of its Constitution and added that New Delhi and Islamabad should resolve outstanding issues through dialogue, based on the 1972 Simla Agreement and the 1999 Lahore Declaration. Modi is to visit Vladivostok to attend the Eastern Economic Forum as well as the annual bilateral summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin.