Trump Announces Plan to Pull Out of Iran Nuclear Deal Despite Pleas From European Leaders
Anne Gearan, Karen DeYoung | Washington Post
The United States “will withdraw” from the international nuclear deal with Iran and will reinstate economic sanctions against Tehran, President Trump announced Tuesday. Trump’s decision, announced at the White House, follows the failure of last-ditch efforts by Britain, France and Germany to convince him that his concerns about “flaws” in the accord could be addressed without violating its terms or ending it altogether.
Trump Orders Pentagon to Consider Reducing U.S. Forces in South Korea
Mark Landler | New York Times
President Trump has ordered the Pentagon to prepare options for drawing down American troops in South Korea, just weeks before he holds a landmark meeting with North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, according to several people briefed on the deliberations.
N. Korea Says U.S. Pressure Would Not Be Conducive to Solving Nuclear Issue
Korea Herald
North Korea on Sunday called on the United States to stop pursuing pressure and military threats against the communist state, saying such moves would not be of any help to resolving the country's nuclear and missile programs.
Can Pyongyang’s ICBMs Be Stopped by Missile-Armed UAV? Congress Wants to Know.
Jason Sherman | Inside Defense
U.S. lawmakers want an independent assessment of a proposal to arm Predator unmanned aircraft with guided missiles to shoot down North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles, leveraging proven technologies in the American arsenal to rapidly field a system that uses kinetic interceptors to kill Pyongyang’s ballistic missiles during the boost phase of flight.
Revealed: Trump Team Hired Spy Firm for ‘Dirty Ops’ on Iran Arms Deal
Mark Townsend, Julian Borger | Guardian
Aides to Donald Trump, the US president, hired an Israeli private intelligence agency to orchestrate a “dirty ops” campaign against key individuals from the Obama administration who helped negotiate the Iran nuclear deal, the Observer can reveal.
A Farewell to Arms Control
Economist
Old deals to limit nuclear weapons are fraying. They may not be repaired. Since 1972, when the first Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT I) agreement was signed, there have always been negotiated constraints on the nuclear arsenals controlled from Washington and Moscow. In three years, if nothing is done, that half-century of strategic arms control will be over.