NATO Mess with Pakistan: What We're Reading Now
Nov 28, 2011
IRAN
Iran builds 3 more submarines for navy
AP - November 27, 2011
Iranian state TV says the country has added three more domestically-built submarines to its naval fleet. The move is seen as part of Iran's effort to upgrade its defense capabilities amid escalating tension over its nuclear program. The West suspects Iran is aiming at developing nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies.
Oil Soars On Geopolitical Tensions
Sarah Kent, WSJ - November 28, 2011
rude futures took off as investors reacted to the prospect of a European Union ban on Iranian oil imports and renewed optimism that European politicians are making headway in their efforts to contain the region's debt crisis.
Iran's Parliament Orders Ties With Britain Reduced
Nasser Karimi, AP - November 27, 2011
Iran's parliament on Sunday approved a bill requiring both Iran and Britain to withdraw their respective ambassadors from each other's countries, following London's support of recently upgraded U.S. sanctions on Tehran.
NORTH KOREA
N. Korean leader faces challenges in power succession, Yu says
Kim Kwang-tae, Yonhap News - November 26, 2011
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il faces challenges in handing over power to his youngest son, Seoul's top official in charge of relations with Pyongyang said.
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.
The 2012 Election and the Rebuplican Party's Foreign Policy: What We're Reading Now
Nov 15, 2011
IRAN
Analysis: Israelis doubt world will stop Iran's nuclear quest
Dan Williams, Reuters - November 15, 2011
The latest report by U.N. inspectors has hardened suspicions that Iran is seeking nuclear arms capability, but Israeli experts have little confidence that international action will deny the Islamic Republic the means to make a bomb.
Handicapping a War over Iran's Nuclear Aims: Noe & Raad
Nicholas Noe & Walid Raad, Bloomberg (Opinon) - November 14, 2011
As concerns mounted over a possible military confrontation between Israel and Iran, several leading Arab commentators argued that such worries were overblown.
NORTH AND SOUTH KOREA
Seoul halts flying leaflets to N. Korea
Kim Young-jin, The Korea Times - November 15, 2011
Seoul has suspended its launches of anti-regime pamphlets into North Korea, a military source said Tuesday in the latest sign of easing tension on the peninsula.
N. Korea down bitter rivals Japan in W.Cup qualifier
Hiroshi Hiyama, AFP - November 15, 2011
North Korea downed bitter rivals Japan 1-0 on Tuesday in a bad-tempered World Cup qualifier dripping with political tensions and littered with yellow cards.
GOP contenders spar over Pakistan, foreign aid at debate: What We're Reading Now
Nov 14, 2011
IRAN
Obama vows new bid to thwart Iran nuclear effort
AP - November 13, 2011
President Barack Obama says sanctions on Iran are having "enormous bite," but he still wants to work with Russia and China to find more ways of putting pressure on Tehran to halt its nuclear program.
Politics stokes fears over Iran nuclear plans
Roula Khalaf, Financial Times - November 14, 2011
In January this year, Hillary Clinton sounded an unusually relaxed note about Iran’s nuclear programme. “The sanctions are working,” the US secretary of state declared, adding that the US authorities’ best estimate was that the programme had been “slowed down”.
Behind Iran's Nuclear Quest: An Ancient Civilization's Pride and Insecurity
Karl Vick, Time (Blog)- November 13, 2011
Every nation has its pride, but the feeling runs especially deep in Iran. There, the sense of nationhood extends back 2,500 years, to the time of Darius and Xerxes and other names that Americans might possibly have heard of somewhere — maybe in the action movie 300 — but which anchor modern Iranians to a stream of history that predates every Abrahamic religion, including Islam, and carries real implications for the nuclear issue. For outsiders, it makes the issue a lot tougher.
McManus: Facing a nuclear Iran
Doyle MacManus, LA Times (Op-Ed) - November 13, 2011
Republicans are critical of Obama's approach, but their own policies aren't that different.
Israel Faces Questions About News Reports of Eyeing Iran Strike: What We're Reading Now
Nov 04, 2011
IRAN
Iran boosts anti-U.S. rhetoric ahead of nuclear report
Ramin Mostafavi, Reuters - November 4, 2011
Iran marked the anniversary of the 1979 seizure of the U.S. embassy on Friday with burning flags and chants of "Death to America," escalating its anti-U.S. rhetoric ahead of the release of a pivotal U.N. report on its nuclear programme.
Iran's nuclear ambitions have already started a war with west – a covert one
Julian Borger, The Guradian - November 4, 2011
The covert war on Iran's nuclear programme was launched in earnest by George Bush in 2007. It is a fair assumption that the western powers had been trying their best to spy on the Islamic Republic since the 1979 Iranian revolution, but the 2007 "presidential finding" put those efforts on a new footing.
China urges Iran be flexible on nuclear program
Reuters - November 4, 2011
China urged Iran on Friday to show flexibility over its controversial nuclear program and warned that the use of force to resolve the issue was the last thing the Middle East needed at the moment.
ISRAEL
Israel Faces Questions About News Reports of Eyeing Iran Strike
Isabel Kershner & David E. Sanger, NYT - November 3, 2011
Israel’s top leadership has spent the week answering and evading questions about widespread reports that it is once again considering a strike on Iran’s nuclear complexes, while President Obama said Thursday that he and his allies would maintain “unprecedented international pressure” on Tehran to keep it from producing a nuclear weapon.
Domestic Woes Sideline Foreign Policy: What We're Reading Now
Nov 01, 2011
IRAN
Israeli PM warns about danger of nuclear Iran
AP - October 31, 2011
Israel's prime minister says a nuclear-armed Iran would pose a serious threat to the entire world — but particularly to Israel.
Iran Plays Down Likelihood of New Atomic Discussions
Global Security Newswire - October 31, 2011
Further nuclear discussions between Iran and world powers would "not have any meaning" while the United States maintains its confrontational posturing, the Middle Eastern nation's top diplomat said on Saturday (see GSN, Oct. 28).
China’s Iranian Gambit
Michael Singh & Jaqueline Newmyer Deal, Foreign Policy (Blog) - October 31, 2011
Beijing is using the Islamic Republic to foil American interests in the Middle East. It's time we wised up to this dangerous game.
NORTH & SOUTH KOREA
EU legislators to visit S. Korea this week
Yonhap News - November 1, 2011
A delegation of European Union legislators will visit Seoul this week for talks on North Korea's nuclear ambitions and other issues, Seoul's foreign ministry said Tuesday.
Russia Does Not See Deal on NATO Missile Shield Before 2012 Summit: What We're Reading Now
Oct 31, 2011
IRAN
Michele Bachmann: Force an option against Iran after alleged US-based assassination plot
Shira Schoenberg, Boston Globe - October 30, 2011
Republican presidential candidate Michele Bachmann would not rule out the use of force in responding to an alleged Iranian attempt to assassinate the Saudi Arabian ambassador to the United States.
Plausible Culpability
Daniel Byman, Foreign Policy (Blog) - October 28, 2011
Incredulity has been the most common response to reports that Iran plotted with Mexican drug traffickers to kill the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Adel al-Jubeir, at a Washington, D.C. restaurant. Given past U.S. intelligence failures, the opacity of the Iranian regime, and the seemingly clumsy nature of the operation, it is easy to dismiss the Obama administration's allegations that Iran planned such a risky attack. But there are plenty of reasons to think that the Islamic Republic's senior leadership was responsible for the plot.
The Bloated Nuclear Weapons Budget
NYT Editorial - October 29, 2011
Twenty years after the end of the cold war, the United States still has about 2,500 nuclear weapons deployed and 2,600 more as backup. The Obama administration, in an attempt to mollify Congressional Republicans, has also committed to modernizing an already hugely expensive complex of nuclear labs and production facilities.
NORTH & SOUTH KOREA
Kim Jong-il to North Koreans in Libya: Don't bother coming home
John M. Gilona, LA Times - October 31, 2011
Worried they might return with provocative tales of a populist uprising that just toppled another Middle East dictator, strongman Kim Jong-il has issued a decree to North Koreans in Libya – don’t bother coming home.