Hamidreza Azizi and Nicole Grajewski | Foreign Policy
Last week, Syrian rebels led by the Sunni Islamist group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) launched a surprise offensive, capturing significant parts of Aleppo, one of Syria’s largest cities, and advancing south into Hama province. This offensive—the most substantial territorial gain by rebel forces in nearly a decade—struck at the heart of what Russia once considered its defining achievement in Syria: the 2016 recapture of Aleppo.
Reuters
A possible resumption of nuclear weapons tests by Moscow remains an open question in view of hostile U.S. policies, a senior Russian diplomat was quoted as saying early on Saturday. "This is a question at hand," Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told TASS news agency when asked whether Moscow was considering a resumption of tests. "And without anticipating anything, let me simply say that the situation is quite difficult. It is constantly being considered in all its components and in all its aspects."
JON GAMBRELL | Associated Press
Iran will begin enriching uranium with thousands of advanced centrifuges at its two main nuclear facilities at Fordo and Natanz, the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog said Friday, further raising tensions over Tehran’s program as it enriches at near weapons-grade levels. The notice from the International Atomic Energy Agency only mentioned Iran enriching uranium with new centrifuges to 5% purity, far lower than the 60% it currently does — likely signaling that it still wants to negotiate with the West and the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump… In a statement, the IAEA outlined the plans Iran informed it of, which include feeding uranium into some 45 cascades of its advanced IR-2M, IR-4 and IR-6 centrifuges.
Patrick Wintour | The Guardian
Iran and the so-called E3 grouping of the UK, France and Germany have agreed to continue holding talks in the near future in an attempt to find a way out of an impasse over Tehran’s nuclear programme, in what may be the last chance of a breakthrough before Donald Trump takes up the US presidency again. Trump, who pursued a policy of “maximum economic pressure” against Iran during his first term, returns to the White House on 20 January. The decision to hold a further round of talks following a meeting in Geneva on Friday suggests the two sides believe there is still diplomatic space for an agreement whereby Iran would be more transparent about its nuclear programme in return for the lifting of economic sanctions. But the chances of even an outline agreement before Trump returns to power seems remote.
Constant Méheut | The New York Times
Russia hit critical electricity transmission facilities linked to nuclear power plants during its latest assault on Ukraine’s power grid on Thursday, the International Atomic Energy Agency reported. It was the third such attack in roughly as many months, heightening concerns among experts about the potential for a nuclear disaster.
Daryl G. Kimball | Arms Control Association
Global nuclear dangers are growing, and international peace and security are at severe risk. In January, the second presidential administration of Donald Trump will be tasked with managing a complex array of nuclear weapons-related dangers, some of which were partly of his own making and all of which will be difficult to address. Trump’s proposed solutions to these challenges were hardly explained, let alone debated, during the 2024 campaign cycle.