North Korea Shows Off Advanced New Submarine
Andrew Jeong | Wall Street Journal
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un examined a new submarine that experts believe could carry multiple missiles, including those with nuclear capabilities, in Pyongyang’s latest display of military strength as denuclearization talks with Washington remain gridlocked. North Korean state media, in a Tuesday report, didn’t provide details about the submarine’s tactical abilities or its physical size. But the North plans to deploy the new submarine soon, state media said. Based on photo analysis, military experts say the vessel represents an advancement in the North’s maritime weaponry because it increases the number of submarines capable of launching missiles and may be sizable enough to carry multiple projectiles. The Kim regime’s submarines were previously believed to be capable of loading only a single missile.
U.S. Must Establish “Objective Conditions” to Resume Nuclear Talks: Choson Sinbo
Dagyum Ji | NK News
The U.S. must establish “objective conditions and an environment” for the resumption of deadlocked nuclear negotiations with North Korea and stop staging the ROK-U.S. joint drills, an influential Tokyo-based pro-North Korea outlet said on Tuesday. In a commentary, the Choson Sinbo — run by the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan (Chongryon) — said the related U.S. ministries, including the White House and the State and Defense Departments, should “intently and carefully listen to the warning” issued by the DPRK foreign ministry on July 16. The DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) warned that DPRK-U.S. working-level negotiations would be affected if the ROK and the U.S. go ahead with the Dong Maeng 19-2 joint drills, an alternative to the now-terminated Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise. “The DPRK side must have a lot to say about [the situation where] the U.S. did not unilaterally fulfill its promise,” the Choson Sinbo said, denouncing Washington for conducting the scaled-down Dong Maeng 19-1 military drills in March as a replacement for the annual Key Resolve exercise. The Choson Sinbo said the warning was not merely the “repetition of the general principles that ‘dialogue and war drills cannot be compatible.'”’
IAEA Chief Yukiya Amano Dies at 72
BBC News
The head of the global nuclear watchdog, Yukiya Amano, has died at the age of 72, the agency announced. He has led the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) since 2009, and was due to step down in March because of an unspecified illness. During his tenure he had overseen a period of tense negotiations regarding Iran's nuclear programme. It is not yet clear who will succeed him, though discussions over his replacement began last week.
Even as Tensions With Iran Rise Over Seized Ship, U.K. Stays ‘Committed’ to Nuclear Deal
David Kirkpatrick | New York Times
Britain took new steps on Monday to distance itself from the Trump administration’s escalating confrontation with Iran, even while pushing for the release of an oil tanker seized by Tehran three days earlier. British efforts to bolster maritime security in the Persian Gulf “will not be part of the U.S. maximum pressure policy on Iran,” Foreign Minister Jeremy Hunt said after an emergency cabinet meeting about the tanker. Mr. Hunt’s pointed statement was the first indication that a broad disagreement over Iran still persists between the two allies despite the Iranian seizure of the British-flagged tanker on Friday. On the American side of the divide, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo insisted on Monday that both the British and American disputes with Iran arose from the same essential cause: the fundamental character of the Iranian government.
Trump Admin Weighs Tightening Restrictions on Iran’s Nuclear Work
Dan De Luce | NBC News
The Trump administration is weighing a decision to end waivers that allow Iran to operate a civilian nuclear program with international assistance, in a move that would dismantle a key pillar of the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers, according to two current U.S. officials and a former official familiar with the discussions. The administration has been locked in an internal debate over the decision, and if carried out, the move could cause the unraveling of the international nuclear agreement that has been in jeopardy since President Donald Trump pulled the U.S. out of the deal last year. The administration's discussions coincide with rising tensions between Iran and the United States and a series of incidents in the Persian Gulf, including the downing of a U.S. drone and an Iranian drone, attacks on oil tankers and the seizure by Iran on Friday of two commercial vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
Trump Says He Could End Afghanistan War in 10 Days, but He Doesn’t “Want to Kill 10 Million People”
CBS News
The Afghan government asked Tuesday for clarification of President Donald Trump's statement that the U.S. military could end the war in Afghanistan in 10 days, but that the country would be wiped out in the process. Mr. Trump suggested on Monday, in a seemingly off-hand remark, that he could order such a military intervention in lieu of a peaceful resolution to the 18-year-war that began with the U.S.-led invasion to topple the Taliban. Mr. Trump made the remarks Monday during a meeting with Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, whose help he seeks in negotiating a peace deal with the Taliban that would enable U.S. forces to withdraw from Afghanistan. Mr. Trump said he could win the Afghan war in just 10 days but it would also wipe “Afghanistan from the face of the earth.”