US Cancels Civil Nuclear Cooperation Waiver for Iran
Matthew Lee | AP
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Monday he is canceling one of four sanctions waivers that had allowed foreign companies to work with Iran’s civilian nuclear program without U.S. penalties. Pompeo also warned Iran’s leadership not to crack down on protests that recent fuel price increases have sparked. The waivers are among the last remaining components of the 2015 nuclear deal the Trump administration withdrew from last year. Pompeo said the waiver for Iran’s once-secret Fordow site will be eliminated Dec. 15. Iran recently announced it would resume uranium enrichment at the fortified facility, which is built into a mountain.
Navy Beginning Tech Study to Extend Trident Nuclear Missile Into the 2080s
Megan Eckstein | USNI News
The Navy’s Strategic Systems Program this fiscal year will begin looking at what new technologies it will need to develop to sustain and modernize its nuclear weapons so they can operate on the Columbia-class ballistic missile submarines through the 2080s. After the Trident D5 missiles underwent an original life extension effort (D5 LE), the office determined they would undergo a D5 LE2 effort that would insert new technologies where possible, find new ways to replace old parts that can no longer be manufactured, and otherwise keep the missiles reliable as a strategic deterrent for more than six more decades. SSP Director Vice Adm. Johnny Wolfe said the original life extension effort has gone well, with five flight tests in the last year showing the missiles can still fly the tracks they’re supposed to. In fact, three motors involved in a test that were about three decades old performed like new during the test, he said. However, this first life extension effort won’t get the missiles through the end of the Columbia SSBN’s life.
North Korea Snubs US Move to Postpone Military Drill With South
Hyung-Jin Kim | AP
North Korea said Tuesday it won’t consider a recent U.S. decision to postpone a joint military exercise with South Korea a major concession that can bring it back to nuclear talks. Senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chol said the U.S. must completely scrap that military drill and abandon its hostility against his country if it wants to see the resumption of the nuclear negotiations. Kim’s comments were the first direct response to an announcement Sunday by U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper and his South Korean counterpart that the allies have indefinitely postponed the annual Vigilant Ace training in an “act of goodwill” toward North Korea. The moves were regarded as an effort to convince North Korea to revive the nuclear talks that largely have stalled since the February collapse of a summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The February summit in Vietnam, the second such meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un, fell apart after Trump rejected Kim’s demand for sweeping sanctions relief in exchange of dismantling his main complex to produce nuclear ingredients, a limited disarmament step.
US Breaks Off Defense Cost Talks, As South Korea Balks at $5 Billion Demand
Joyce Lee, Sangmi Cha, Hyonhee Shin | Reuters
The United States broke off talks with South Korea on increasing Seoul’s contribution to the costs of hosting U.S. troops, after the two sides failed to narrow their differences on Tuesday in a row that has raised questions about the American deployment. The breakdown in talks was a rare public sign of discord in the “airtight” alliance that has for 70 years formed a buffer against North Korean aggression, with each side blaming the other for being unprepared to compromise on sharing the costs of keeping 28,500 U.S. military personnel in South Korea. A group of 47 South Korean members of parliament, which must ratify any agreement, last week accused the United States of threatening to pull its troops out. “U.S. forces are here also for their own interests, as an outpost aimed at keeping China and Russia in check,” the group said. “They can’t just pull out with a surprise tweet from Trump.”
Russia's Intelligence Chief Predicts New START to Have Same Plight as INF Treaty
TASS
The strategic arms reduction treaty New START will most probably cease to exist in February 2021, the director of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergei Naryshkin, said at a roundtable conference at the Baltic State Technical University, devoted to the history of Russia’s rocket-building industry, on Friday. “The INF Treaty’s sad plight is most likely in store for New START, which will expire in February 2021,” he presumed. Naryshkin believes Russia is obliged to strengthen its defenses in response to US policies. “US actions are tantamount to undermining the system of international security. Russia has been taking resolute steps to save the arms control architecture, but we are unable to coerce Washington and its allies [into compliance],” he commented. “In the current alarming situation we are obliged to step up efforts to strengthen our country’s defenses. ‘If you want peace, prepare for war,’ the saying goes,” he said.
China Warns Japan, South Korea Over Deployment of US Missiles
Yoshihiro Makino | Asahi Shimbun
Chinese officials have warned Japan and South Korea that their relations with Beijing will deteriorate if they allow the United States to base intermediate-range missiles on their soil, several sources said. Beijing’s concerns arose after U.S. President Donald Trump announced that the United States would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with Russia. One reason cited was that the treaty did not cover China, which was developing such missiles. With the INF now invalidated, Beijing is concerned that Washington plans to deploy intermediate-range missiles in Japan and South Korea where they would be capable of reaching China. A Foreign Ministry source said the official ministry position was that no decision had been made about deploying U.S. intermediate-range missiles in Japan. The source added that it would likely take five years before U.S. missiles would be ready for an actual deployment.