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.
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.
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.
How to Cut the Defense Budget Responsibly: What We're Reading Now
Nov 03, 2011
IRAN
House panel OKs tougher penalties against Iran, targeting companies doing business with Tehran
AP (Washington Post) - November 2, 2011
A House panel on Wednesday unanimously approved harsher penalties against Iran, arguing that an economically weak Tehran will struggle in its pursuit of nuclear weapons.
Iran's nuclear activity under scrutiny as evidence of weapons threat emerges
Julian Borger, The Guardian - November 2, 2011
A report by the UN's nuclear watchdog due to be circulated around the world next week will provide fresh evidence of a possible Iranian nuclear weapons programme, bringing the Middle East a step closer to a devastating new conflict, say diplomats.
ISRAEL
Israelis hold defense drill for missile attack
Ari Rabinovitch, Reuters - November 3, 2011
Israel staged a mass drill on Thursday, simulating a missile attack in the center of the country at a time of intense speculation that the Jewish state could launch strikes on Iran, although the military dismissed any link.
Poll shows strong support in Israel for military attack against Iranian nuclear program
AP (Washington Post) - November 2, 2011
The Israeli government would have significant support at home for an Israeli military strike against Iran’s nuclear program, according to a poll published Thursday.
Israel test fires missile that can hit Iran: What We're Reading Now
Nov 02, 2011
IRAN - ISRAEL
In Israel, speculation over strike on Iran grows
Jean-Luc Renaudie, AFP - November 2, 2011
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is seeking cabinet support for a military strike on Iran, Haaretz newspaper reported on Wednesday, after days of speculation on plans for such an attack.
Israel test fires missile that can hit Iran
AP - November 2, 2011
Israel successfully test-fired on Wednesday a missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead and striking Iran, fanning a public debate over whether the country's leaders are agitating for a military attack on Tehran's atomic facilities.
NORTH & SOUTH KOREA
Nuclear summit to send 'firm message' to N. Korea: Seoul
Yonhap News - November 2, 2011
South Korea will use next year's world nuclear security summit in Seoul to increase diplomatic pressure on North Korea to abandon its atomic arsenal, a key organizer said Wednesday.
Factbox: Key political risks to watch on the Korean peninsula
Jeremy Laurence & Jack Kim, Reuters - November 2, 2011
Conciliatory gestures by both Koreas have raised hopes that long-stalled nuclear talks are back on the cards, but Seoul and Washington insist Pyongyang must first take concrete measures to disable its atomic program.
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.
Stuxnet-like virus points to new round of cyber war: What We're Reading Now
Oct 20, 2011
IRAN
Russia concerned about Iran nuclear report: diplomats
Fredrik Dahl, Reuters - October 19, 2011
Russia fears a U.N. report which is expected to heighten suspicions about Iran's atomic ambitions could undermine Moscow's initiative to help resolve a nuclear dispute with Tehran, diplomatic sources said on Wednesday.
How far will newest U.N. nuclear report on Iran go?
Pam Benson, CNN (Blog) - October 18, 2011
Amid new reports indicating Iran's nuclear program is faltering, the international nuclear watchdog agency is putting the finishing touches on its latest assessment and it might go further in tying Iran to a possible weapons program.
NORTH KOREA
Autumn harvest watched warily in food-poor NKorea
Jeah H. Lee, AP - October 20, 2011
This autumn, as farmers fan out into fields of corn, wheat, rice and cabbage, such evocative pastoral scenes — the stuff of centuries-old Dutch landscape paintings — also are a reminder of the challenges North Korea faces in feeding its people.
Six-party talks inch closer to resumption
Kim Young-jin, The Korea Times - October 20, 2011
A series of diplomatic moves over North Korea’s nuclear program is cautiously inching regional players closer to resuming long-stalled multilateral negotiations, analysts said Thursday.
North-South Korea talks in US serious, but civil: What We're Reading Now
Oct 19, 2011
IRAN
Sanctions, flaws hobble Iran nuclear program: study
AFP - October 18, 2011
Iran's nuclear program has been hampered by machine design flaws, equipment breakdowns and problems getting parts because of international sanctions, a US think-tank report said.
Iran could make atom bomb material despite hurdles: report
Fredrik Dahl, Reuters - October 18, 2011
Iran's nuclear program is struggling with low-performing enrichment machines but it would still be able to produce material that could be used for atomic bombs, according to a U.S. think tank.
UK orders asset freeze over assassination plot
David Stringer, Bloomsberg Businessweek - October 19, 2011
Britain's Treasury said Tuesday it had ordered the assets of five men frozen in connection with the alleged Iranian plot to assassinate Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the United States.
NORTH & SOUTH KOREA
China's vice premier to visit North, South Korea
AP - October 19, 2011
A Chinese vice premier will visit North and South Korea in rare rapid succession as Beijing notes positive momentum is growing to restart stalled talks on North Korea's nuclear disarmament.
"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
