China assisting North Korean missile program: Panetta - What We're Reading Now
Apr 20, 2012
North Korea
China assisting North Korean missile program: Panetta
Missy Ryan, Reuters - April 20, 2012
China has provided some assistance to North Korea's missile program, U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said on Thursday, a week after the hermit state's failed rocket launch triggered international condemnation.
Panetta Cites Growing Concern About North Korean Missile
Viola Gienger, Bloomberg Businessweek - April 19, 2012
The U.S. has “growing concern” that North Korea may have gained mobile missile technology that was displayed during a parade this month, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.
Iran
Iran: Dispute Over Islands Grows
Rick Gladstone, New York Times - April 19, 2012
Iran’s military escalated tensions with the United Arab Emirates on Thursday, warning the country’s leaders to cease their claims of sovereignty over Abu Musa and two other contested islands at the strategically important mouth of the Persian Gulf.
Afghanistan
Afghanistan leader seeks swifter troop pullout amid photos furorLaura King, Los Angeles Times - April 19, 2012
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai decries the behavior of U.S. troops photographed with insurgents' remains. Western troops' departure will prevent a recurrence, he says.
A risky bid on tough Iran sanctions: What We're Reading Now
Feb 15, 2012
IRAN
A risky bid on tough Iran sanctions
Julie Pace and Anne Gearan, Associated Press - February 15, 2012
The United States and Europe are considering unprecedented punishment against Iran that could immediately cripple the country's financial lifeline. But that extreme option in the banking world would come with costs.
Iran Leader to Announce Atomic Steps
Rick Gladstone, New York Times - February 14, 2012
Iran signaled on Tuesday that it had made further advances in the country’s disputed nuclear energy program, announcing that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad would reveal “key nuclear achievements” on Wednesday. An Iranian news agency said he was likely to proclaim that a new uranium enrichment plant built inside a mountain near the holy city of Qum was “fully operational.”
Blasts in Bangkok Add to Suspicions About Iran
Thomas Fuller and Rick Gladstone, New York Times - February 14, 2012
A series of explosions rocked a residential neighborhood here on Tuesday, leading the Thai authorities to a cache of bombs in a rented house and the capture of two men who the Thai police said carried Iranian passports. Thai officials said that two other suspects, whom they believed to be Iranians, were being sought, and that one of them had fled to neighboring Malaysia.
MIDDLE EAST
U.S. Steps Up Watch of Syria Chemical Weapons
Adam Entous and Jay Solomon, Wall Street Journal - February 15, 2012
The U.S. and some Mideast allies are intensifying surveillance of Syria's chemical and biological depots amid fears that the weapons could go loose if unrest escalates out of control.
Nuclear Isotopes Caught Heading to Iran – Not Quite What it Seemed: What We're Reading Now
Dec 16, 2011
IRAN
Nuclear Isotopes Caught Heading to Iran – Not Quite What it Seemed
Jeffrey Kofman, ABC News -- December 16, 2011
Reports from Moscow appeared to provide more evidence of Iran’s ambition to build a nuclear bomb. Russian customs agents said Friday morning they found 18 pieces of radioactive metal in the luggage of a passenger bound for Tehran. A radiation detector at the airport identified the luggage, which had levels of radiation 20 times the limit.
Russian customs seize Iran-bound radioactive metal
Nataliya Vasilyeva, Associated Press -- December 16, 2011
Russia's customs agency said Friday that it seized radioactive metal from the luggage of an Iranian passenger bound for Tehran. Spokeswoman Kseniya Grebenkina told The Associated Press that the luggage had been seized some time ago, but could not specify when. The Iranian hasn't been detained, she said.
NORTH KOREA
U.S., North Korea resume talks on food aid
William Wan, Washington Post -- December 15, 2011
U.S. officials have resumed talking to North Korea about providing food aid to the impoverished country, proposing that it accept nutrition-rich items — such as Plumpy Nut peanut paste — that are considered less likely to be diverted to the North Korean elite.
Is Iran Already Under Attack?: What We're Reading Now
Dec 02, 2011
IRAN
Is Iran Already Under Attack?
The Atlantic, Jeffrey Goldberg -- December 2, 2011
Adam Chandler, the Goldblog deputy-editor-for-monitoring-Iran-obsessively-even-though-Goldblog-himself-also-monitors-Iran-obsessively, pointed out to me the other day that perhaps the West has already begun the attack on Iran's nuclear facilities, that perhaps we ought to reframe this issue a bit.
Senate votes for new Iran sanctions, defying White House
Lisa Mascaro, Los Angeles Times -- December 2, 2011
The penalties are part of a defense bill that already faced a veto threat because of new requirements for holding terrorism suspects.
Insight: Did Conficker help sabotage Iran's nuke program?
Jim Finkle, Reuters -- November 2, 2011
A cyber warfare expert claims he has linked the Stuxnet computer virus that attacked Iran's nuclear program in 2010 to Conficker, a mysterious "worm" that surfaced in late 2008 and infected millions of PCs.
Iran and the I.A.E.A.: What We're Reading Now
Nov 18, 2011
IRAN
Iran nuclear sanctions hurt the middle class, not Guards
Oren Dorell, USA Today - November 17, 2011
International sanctions aimed at Iran's nuclear program have hurt the country's middle class and caused factories to shut down while low-quality goods flood the country, say foreign policy analysts.
Nuclear Watchdog Seeks Consensus on Iran
Alan Cowell, NYT - November 18, 2011
The global powers dealing with the bitter international dispute over Iran’s nuclear intentions were reported on Friday to be seeking a consensus for new demands on Tehran to allay deepening apprehensions about its suspected efforts to build a nuclear weapon.
Iranian delegate accuses IAEA chief of security leaks that threaten Iranian lives
AP - November 18, 2011
A senior Iranian envoy is accusing the head of the U.N. nuclear body of security leaks that expose his country’s scientists and their families to the threat of assassination by the U.S. and Israel.
Iran and the I.A.E.A.
Seymour M. Hersh, The New Yorker - November 18, 2011
The first question in last Saturday night’s Republican debate on foreign policy dealt with Iran, and a newly published report by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Nuclear Watchdog Seeks Mission to Iran: What We're Reading Now
Nov 17, 2011
IRAN
Nuclear Watchdog Seeks Mission to Iran
Alan Cowell, NYT - November 17, 2011
dding new pressures on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program, the head of the United Nations nuclear watchdog said on Thursday he wanted to send a high-level mission to Iran to investigate a report by his agency that Iranian scientists had engaged in secret and possibly "ongoing" efforts to construct a nuclear weapon.
East-West Split Threatens Nuclear Unity on Iran
ABC News (AP) - November 16, 2011
The U.S. and its Western allies face an unpalatable choice over Iran at a key U.N. atomic agency meeting Thursday. They can defy Russia and China with a demand that the Islamic Republic start answering questions on its alleged secret nuclear arms program or face renewed referral to the U.N. Security Council.
NORTH KOREA
S. Korea, U.S., Japan to hold talks on N. Korea in Bali
Yonhap News - November 17, 2011
Senior diplomats from South Korea, the United States and Japan will hold trilateral talks in Indonesia on Thursday to coordinate their joint strategy on the North Korean nuclear standoff, a Seoul official said.
U.S. foreign policy turns toward Asia: What We're Reading Now
Nov 16, 2011
IRAN
Arabs, Israel to attend nuclear talks, Iran uncertain
Fredrik Dahl, Reuters - November 15, 2011
Arab states and Israel plan to attend a rare round of talks next week on efforts to free the world of nuclear weapons but Iran has yet to say whether it will take part in the meeting in Vienna, diplomats said on Wednesday.
Iran’s nuclear defiance finds rare common ground in fractured country
AP (Washington Post) - November 15, 2011
Banners proclaiming Iran’s “obvious right” to nuclear technology are draped over building facades. State media describe the head of the U.N. atomic watchdog agency as an American puppet and dismiss claims about nuclear weapons advances as made-in-USA falsehoods.
Iran ready to help Turkey with nuclear plant - aide
Louis Charbonneau, Reuters - November 16, 2011
An adviser to Iran's Supreme Leader said on Tuesday that Tehran was willing to share its controversial nuclear technology with neighboring countries, suggesting it could help Turkey build an atomic power plant.
Defense spending and Iran
The Hill - November 15, 2011
Over the last couple of weeks, there has been a lot of chatter about the possibility of Israel bombing Iran’s nuclear site, with or without U.S. participation.
Q+A: U.N. report on Iran's nuclear program: What We're Reading Now
Nov 07, 2011
IRAN
IAEA says foreign expertise has brought Iran to threshold of nuclear capability
Joby Warrick, The Washington Post -- November 6, 2011
Intelligence provided to U.N. nuclear officials shows that Iran’s government has mastered the critical steps needed to build a nuclear weapon, receiving assistance from foreign scientists to overcome key technical hurdles, according to Western diplomats and nuclear experts briefed on the findings.
Q+A: U.N. report on Iran's nuclear program
Fredrik Dahl, Reuters -- November 7, 2011
The U.N. atomic watchdog is set to issue a report this week with detailed intelligence pointing to research and experiments in Iran to develop the technology and skills needed to make nuclear bombs, Western diplomats say.
Insight: Has Iran ended Israel's Begin Doctrine?
Dan Williams, Reuters -- November 7, 2011
Menachem Begin did not pull his punches. In 1981, as work neared completion on an Iraqi nuclear reactor that Israel believed would produce plutonium for warheads, the Israeli prime minister dispatched eight F-16 bombers to destroy the plant. Begin later said that the raid was proof his country would "under no circumstances allow the enemy to develop weapons of mass-destruction against our people".
Bracing for the Iran Nuclear Report: Will 'Military Action' Rhetoric Develop its Own Momentum?
Tony Karon, Time -- November 7, 2011
If the proverbial "drumbeat" for war with Iran has grown more insistent in recent weeks, it's about to turn into something akin to the opening bars of Black Sabbath's "Iron Man". That's because the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected, in a report on Iran's nuclear program due for release early this week, to suggest that the Islamic Republic's nuclear program may include a "possible military dimension", giving Tehran the means -- possibly with the help of foreign scientists -- to relatively quickly build nuclear weapons should it choose to do so.
US's most powerful nuclear bomb being dismantled: What We're Reading Now
Oct 25, 2011
IRAN
U.N. report seen worsening fear over Iran nuclear plans
Reuters -- October 24, 2011
The U.N. nuclear watchdog is expected to publish intelligence soon pointing to military dimensions to Iran's nuclear activities but stopping short of saying explicitly that Tehran is trying to build atom bombs, Western diplomats say.
China urges IAEA to solve Iran nuclear issue through dialogue, negotiations
Xinhua -- October 25, 2011
China adamantly believes that dialogue and negotiations are the proper ways to solve the Iranian nuclear issue, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday at a daily press briefing.
NORTH KOREA
US envoy: Progress in NKorea talks, but no deal on resuming full nuclear negotiations
The Associated Press -- October 25, 2011
The U.S. envoy leading talks with North Korea on Pyongyang’s nuclear program says two days of meetings in Geneva have narrowed differences between the two sides.
'South remains defenseless against North’s missile threats'
Lee Tae-hoon, Korea Times -- October 25, 2011
Despite its continuous efforts to beef up air defense capabilities, officials acknowledge that South Korea remains highly vulnerable to growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea. <
"Strong" IAEA report may pile pressure on Iran: What We're Reading Now
Oct 14, 2011
IRAN
"Strong" IAEA report may pile pressure on Iran
Fredrik Dahl, Reuters - October 14, 2011
he U.N. nuclear watchdog is expected to add to growing international pressure on Iran with a report next month likely to heighten suspicions about the Islamic state's atomic ambitions, Western diplomats said on Friday.
The Birth of a Bomb: A History of Iran's Nuclear Ambitions (Der Spiegel)
Der Spigel/Forbes - October 13, 2011
In the wake of the FBI’s disruption of Tehran’s plot to assassinate the Saudi Ambassador to the United States on American soil, many are calling on President Obama to “take action” – though it’s not quite clear what kind of action they have in mind.
Iran's Press TV claims it is being banned in UK
Raphael G. Satter, AP - October 14, 2011
British officials are preparing to ban Iran's English-language Press TV, the broadcaster claimed Friday. Regulator Ofcom confirmed that it is considering punitive action but said no decision has yet been made.
NORTH & SOUTH KOREA
South Korean President Tells Congress North Must Give up "Nuclear Ambitions"
Global Security Newswire - October 14, 2011
South Korean President Lee Myung-bak told a special joint session of the U.S. Congress on Thursday that he remained dedicated to realizing the permanent shuttering of North Korea's nuclear weapons program, the Yonhap News Agency reported
