Nuclear Inspectors in Iran: What We're Reading Now
Jan 30, 2012
IRAN
Nuclear Inspectors in Iran
Associated Press - January 29, 2012
Iran’s foreign minister expressed optimism Sunday that a visit by U.N. inspectors to Iran’s nuclear facilities would produce an understanding, despite world concerns that Iran is trying to build nuclear weapons.
Pentagon Seeks Mightier Bomb Vs Iran
Adam Entous and Julian E. Barnes, Wall Street Journal - January 28, 2012
Pentagon war planners have concluded that their largest conventional bomb isn't yet capable of destroying Iran's most heavily fortified underground facilities, and are stepping up efforts to make it more powerful, according to U.S. officials briefed on the plan.
Iran Hits Back at EU With Own Oil Embargo Threat
Robin Pomeroy and Hashem Kalantari, Reuters - January 27, 2012
Fighting sanctions with sanctions in a trial of strength with the West over its nuclear ambitions, Iran warned on Friday it may halt oil exports to Europe next week in a move calculated to hurt ailing European economies.
Paul Richter and Ramin Mostaghim, Los Angeles Times - January 29, 2012
Broader restrictions on oil exports and banking may damage the economy enough to force Iran to change course. Or maybe the move will just stir anger.
Ahmadinejad Says Iran Is Ready for Nuclear Talks: What We're Reading Now
Jan 26, 2012
IRAN
Ahmadinejad Says Iran Is Ready for Nuclear TalksJ. David Goodman, New York Times - January 26, 2012 Even as he became the latest and most senior member of the Iranian government to publicly declare his readiness for nuclear talks, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Thursday lashed out at the West over its tough new economic sanctions that he said have hurt the Iranian people.
IAEA talks in Tehran to test Iran's nuclear defiance
Fredrik Dahl, Reuters - January 26, 2012
A rare visit by senior U.N. nuclear inspectors next week raises pressure on Iran to address suspicions it is trying to develop atomic weapons, though Western powers that are piling on sanctions expect no significant breakthrough.
Can Sanctions Alone Get Iran To Negotiate
Tom Gjelten, NPR - January 25, 2012
In an effort to bring Iran to the negotiating table over its nuclear program through economic pain, both the U.S. and the European Union have imposed sanctions that should make it harder for Iran to sell its oil. But the global oil business is unpredictable, and sanctions are no guarantee.
Iran won't move toward nuclear weapon in 2012 - ISIS report
Tabassum Zakaria and Mark Hosenball, Reuters - January 26, 2012
Iran is unlikely to move toward building a nuclear weapon this year because it does not yet have the capability to produce enough weapon-grade uranium, a draft report by the Institute for Science and International Security said on Wednesday.
U.S. Shifts Policy On Nuclear Pacts: What We're Reading Now
Jan 25, 2012
IRAN
Sanctions Against Iran Grow Tighter, but What’s the Next Step?
Helene Cooper, New York Times - January 24, 2012
As the Obama administration and its European allies toughened economic sanctions against Iran on Monday — blocking its access to the world financial system and undermining its critical oil and gas industry — officials on both sides of the Atlantic acknowledge that their last-ditch effort has only a limited chance of persuading Tehran to abandon what the West fears is its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Iran says sanctions to fail, repeats Hormuz threat
Mitra Amiri, Reuters - January 25, 2012
Iranian politicians said on Tuesday they expected the European Union to backtrack on its oil embargo and repeated a threat to close the vital Strait of Hormuz shipping lane if the West succeeds in preventing Tehran from exporting crude.
KOREAN PENINSULA
U.S. still taking cautious approach to North Korea aid
John M. Glionna, Los Angeles Times - January 24, 2012
In mid-December, U.S. negotiators came the closest they'd come in two years to resuming humanitarian food aid for millions of undernourished North Koreans.
UNITED STATES
U.S. Shifts Policy on Nuclear Pacts
Jay Solomon, Wall Street Journal - January 25, 2012
The Obama administration, in advanced negotiations on nuclear-cooperation agreements with Jordan and Vietnam, has withdrawn a demand that these countries forgo their rights to produce nuclear fuel, senior U.S. officials said.
Amid New Sanctions, Obama Confronts the Challenges of Diplomacy with Iran: What We're Reading Now
Jan 24, 2012
IRAN
Bid to restart Iran nuclear talks pits Western demands against Tehran’s defiance
Ali Akbar Dareini, AP - January 24, 2012
The last time Iran’s nuclear envoys held talks with the U.S. and other world powers, the negotiations limped along until a parting shot by the Islamic Republic: Its labs boosted the enrichment levels of uranium in reply to demands for a full-scale freeze.
Amid New Sanctions, Obama Confronts the Challenges of Diplomacy with Iran
Tony Karon, TIME Magazine (Blog) - January 23, 2012
Despite the deafening racket of the mass-media drums of war, neither President Obama nor the Pentagon has an appetite for a confrontation with Iran that could unleash havoc across the Middle East and would at best simply delay Tehran’s acquisition of nuclear weapons.
Foreign Policy: Stop The Madness
Yousaf Butt, NPR - January 23, 2012
Olli Heinonen is alarmed that Iran has begun producing 20 percent enriched uranium at a new, deeply buried site, and calculates that Iranian scientists could further purify the material to the 90 percent enrichment needed for a bomb in about six months' time.
Bank Tejarat Banned by U.S., EU in Move Stifling Iran Trade
Indira A.R. Lakshmanan, Bloomberg Businessweek - January 24, 2012
The U.S. and European Union took steps to cut off from the international financial system Bank Tejarat, the last institution financing high-volume exports and imports between Iran and Europe.
Europe bans Iranian oil imports in push to curtail nuclear program: What We're Reading Now
Jan 23, 2012
IRAN
Europe bans Iranian oil imports in push to curtail nuclear program
Edward Cody, The Washington Post - January 23, 2012
Europe banned the import of Iranian oil Monday and froze Europe-based assets of the Central Bank of Iran, intensifying an international campaign to choke Iran’s economy and force the radical Islamic government to dispel fears that it is working to develop nuclear weapons.
U.S. aircraft carrier sails through strategic Strait of Hormuz
David S. Cloud, Los Angeles Times - January 22, 2012
A U.S. aircraft carrier sailed through the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, the first transit since Iran warned American ships this year against using the strategic waterway.
Iran gets the message from Washington
David Ignatius, The Washington Post - January 20, 2012
The Iran nuclear crisis is far from over, but Tehran appears to have made a subtle blink — backing away from its threat a few weeks ago to close the Strait of Hormuz in response to escalating U.S. sanctions.
"What we know suggests the development of nuclear weapons'
Jeffrey Goldberg, The Atlantic - January 20, 2012
Yukiya Amano, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is not shrinking in the face of Iranian denials. Once again, he has asserted his suspicions that Iran's goal is a nuclear-weapons capability.
Afghanistan opium production set to rise 61%: UN: What We're Reading Now
Oct 11, 2011
IRAN
Iran's 'bombproof' nuclearsite takes defiant aura from village namesake
Washington Post -- October 10
Not far from one of Iran’s most secretive nuclear sites, villagers proudly declare a willingness to sacrifice their lives to defend their country’s nuclear program from attack by the West.
EU Expands Sanctions Against Iran
NPR -- October 10, 2011
The European Union has expanded sanctions against Iran because of continued human rights abuses. A meeting of EU foreign ministers added 29 officials linked to the regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to the list of people facing a visa ban and asset freeze.
NORTH KOREA
S. Korea allows work at factories in North Korea to restart
Reuters -- October 11, 2011
South Korea said on Tuesday it will allow 120 of its firms to restart building a joint industrial park with North Korea, a fresh sign of tensions between the rival countries easing.
Japanese doctors arrive in North Korea to examine atomic bombing victims
Washington Post -- October 11, 2011
A team of Japanese doctors arrived Tuesday in North Korea to examine victims of the 1945 atomic bombings of Japan, a trip that may help improve dismal ties between the countries.
More Sanctions (Updates)
Jun 17, 2010
Oh, and Ahmadinejad is really mad.
After setting the stage at the UN last week, the US and EU have followed through on their pledge to implement strong unilateral sanctions on Iran. While decades of US sanctions have eliminated Iran’s reliance on the US market and rendered US sanctions essentially worthless, the implementation of stronger European sanctions is a significant step.
According to an official statement, the European measures include sanctions on “key sectors of the gas and oil industry with prohibition of new investment, technical assistance and transfers of technologies” and related equipment and services. In addition, Iran's shipping and air cargo companies will be blacklisted and banned from operating in EU territory, and new visa bans and asset freezes will be imposed on Iran's Revolutionary Guard. Officials say the new sanctions could come into force within weeks.
Prior to this move, the EU has not placed significant trade restrictions on Iran beyond existing UN sanctions. As a result, the EU is one of Iran’s largest trading partners, along with China, and provides for more than 20 percent of Iran’s trade. H/T to Max Bergmann here, who makes some great points on the Obama Administration’s containment strategy over at the Wonk Room. Bergmann points out that...