Negotiators See Signs of Progress in Iran Nuclear Talks
David Rising | Associated Press
Diplomats working in Vienna on a solution to bringing the United States back into the nuclear deal with Iran and world powers are taking a break from talks to consult with their leaders amid continued signs of progress, Russia’s delegate said Tuesday. Mikhail Ulyanov said after a meeting of the deal’s so-called Joint Commission of senior officials with representatives from France, Germany, Britain, China and Iran that they had noted “with satisfaction of the progress in negotiations to restore the nuclear deal.” “It was decided to take a break to allow the delegations to do homework and consult with the capitals,” he tweeted. “The Commission will meet again early next week.”
A Quiet Arms Race Is Rapidly Heating Up Between the Two Koreas
Choe Sang-Hun | New York Times
Pride and jealousy have driven North and South Korea to engage in propaganda shouting matches and compete over who could build a taller flagpole on their border. Now that one-upmanship is intensifying a much more dangerous side of their rivalry: the arms race. Earlier this month, South Korea’s dream of building its own supersonic fighter jet was realized when it unveiled the KF-21, developed at a cost of $7.8 billion. The country also recently revealed plans to acquire dozens of new American combat helicopters. When President Moon Jae-in visited the Defense Ministry’s Agency for Defense Development last year, he said South Korea had “developed a short-range ballistic missile with one of the largest warheads in the world.”
Democrats Reintroduce Ban on US Using Nuclear Weapons First
Joe Gould | Defense News
Two key Democratic lawmakers reintroduced legislation Thursday that would make it U.S. policy not to use nuclear weapons first. Opponents, including top military leaders, argue the vague threat of nuclear escalation serves as a deterrent to conventional war as well as the use of chemical and biological weapons. But the sponsors ― House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, D-Wash., and Senate Armed Services Committee member Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. ― argue a “no first use” policy would lower the risk of an accidental nuclear war.
US Bombers Could Go Back on Alert if ICBMs Are Curtailed, Top General Says
Valerie Insinna | Defense News
If the Defense Department is forced to get rid of its intercontinental ballistic missiles, it will have to move its bombers to alert status to pick up the slack, the head of U.S. Strategic Command said Tuesday. The U.S. military maintains a “nuclear triad” of ICBMs, bombers and ballistic missile submarines meant to deter nuclear-armed adversaries from attacking the nation, as the United States could respond with a subsequent attack even if a portion of its nuclear arsenal was wiped out. “The basic design criteria of the triad is that you cannot allow a failure of any one leg of the triad to prevent everything the president has ordered you to do,” said Adm. Charles Richard during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing.
Czechs Exclude Rosatom From Nuclear Tender After Dispute With Russia
Reuters
The Czech government will not invite Russia’s Rosatom to take part in security assessments before a planned tender for a new unit at the Dukovany nuclear power plant, Industry Minister Karel Havlicek said on Monday. The decision, which effectively excludes Russia from the multi-billion dollar tender, was announced two days after Prague expelled 18 Russian embassy staff, saying it suspected Russian intelligence was involved in explosions at an ammunition depot in 2014.
Israel Should Support Biden’s Efforts to Revive the Iran Nuclear Deal
Tamir Pardo and Matan Vilnai | Foreign Policy
Reports of damage to Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility and to an Iranian intelligence ship in the Red Sea—whether or not Israel had anything to do with either incident—and Iran’s subsequent announcement that it will increase its uranium enrichment to 60 percent levels, accentuate both the risks associated with Iran’s nuclear and regional ambitions and the urgent need to address them.