Iran-US talks turn to interim deal amid rifts over nuclear work, Iranian sources say

Parisa Hafezi, John Irish and Francois Murphy | Reuters 

U.S. and Iranian negotiators have scaled back ambitions for a comprehensive peace deal and are instead seeking a temporary memorandum to prevent a return to conflict, two Iranian sources told Reuters. The shift follows last weekend's inconclusive talks in Islamabad, where deep differences over Iran’s nuclear programme — including ‌the fate of its enriched uranium stockpiles and how long Tehran should halt nuclear work — have continued to threaten progress, despite U.S. officials and Pakistani mediators talking up prospects.  

IAEA chief warns against ‘illusion of an agreement’ on Iran’s nuclear program 

Ashleigh Fields | The Hill 

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi on Wednesday warned against the “illusion” of an agreement with Iran that does not clearly outline a method to assess its nuclear development. “Iran has a very ambitious, wide nuclear program so all of that will require the presence of IAEA inspectors,” Grossi told reporters in Seoul, according to the Associated Press. “Otherwise, you will not have an agreement. You will have an illusion of an agreement,” he added. President Trump said Tuesday that a second round of talks between the U.S. and Iran could happen in the next two days.  

North Korea rapidly expanding nuclear weapons capability, UN watchdog warns 

Justin McCurry | The Guardian 

North Korea has made “very serious” progress in its ability to produce more nuclear weapons, the head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog has said, in another sign that the regime is seeking to use its nuclear arsenal to ensure its survival. North Korea is thought to have assembled about 50 nuclear warheads, although some experts are sceptical of its claims that it is able to miniaturise them so they can be attached to long-range ballistic missiles. Speaking during a visit to the South Korean capital, Seoul, on Wednesday, Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), confirmed reports of a rapid rise in activity at North Korea’s main nuclear complex, Yongbyon. 

Europe Is Accelerating a NATO Fallback Plan in Case Trump Pulls Out  

Bojan Pancevski and Daniel Michaels | The Wall Street Journal  

A fallback plan to ensure Europe can defend itself using NATO’s existing military structures if the U.S. departs is gaining traction after getting buy-in from Germany, a long-term opponent of a go-it-alone approach. ... The plans—advancing informally through side discussions and over dinner meetings in and around the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—aren’t intended to rival the current alliance, participants said. European officials are aiming to preserve deterrence against Russia, operational continuity and nuclear credibility even if Washington withdraws forces from Europe or refuses to come to its defense, as President Trump has threatened.

White House wants Pentagon to demo nuclear space power by 2031 

Michael Marrow | Breaking Defense 

The Trump administration published a new strategy to bring nuclear power to the heavens through a cooperative effort between civil and military authorities could see the Pentagon demonstrate an orbital reactor in as few as five years, according to a White House memo. ... “Nuclear power in space will give us the sustained electricity, heating and propulsion essential to a permanent robotic and eventually human presence on the moon, on Mars and beyond,” Kratsios said. “Executing on the President’s National Space Strategy will require a whole of government approach, as well as the drive and ingenuity of America’s private space industry.”   

If it starts, a nuclear-arms race will be unstoppable 

The Economist  

The world stands on the brink of a nuclear-arms race. If one can be avoided, a big reason will be this: currently, the first country to start such a race risks paying a terrible price. Rogue states caught sprinting for a bomb face crippling sanctions and military strikes. Meanwhile, any halfway-respectable country that flouts the Non-Proliferation Treaty—a legal ban on the creation of new nuclear-armed powers, signed by 191 states—risks becoming a pariah, with unknowable economic and diplomatic costs. Less happily, if a nuclear-arms race does get under way, it will carry on, like toppling dominoes. That is not this columnist’s breathless judgment. It is the view of the world’s nuclear police chief, Rafael Mariano Grossi, soberly expressed on April 13th in an interview for “Inside Geopolitics”, a video show produced by The Economist.