April 30, 2015

Rick Gladstone, "Iran’s Foreign Minister Says U.S. Risks Ostracism if Signed Nuclear Deal Is Scrapped" NYTimes / April 29, 2015 Demonstrating suave fluency in English and a familiarity with American history and law, Iran’s foreign minister said Wednesday that the United States would risk global ostracism if it were to scrap a signed international pact that resolves the Iranian nuclear dispute.... View Source ›

Louis Charbonneau, "Lifting of sanctions to start within days of deal - Iran's Zarif" Reuters / April 30, 2015 The signing of a nuclear agreement with Iran will prompt the United Nations, European Union and United States to begin lifting sanctions on the Islamic Republic within days afterwards, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif said on Wednesday.... View Source ›

Louis Charbonneau, "Exclusive: Britain told U.N. monitors of active Iran nuclear procurement - panel" Reuters / April 30, 2015 Britain has informed a United Nations sanctions panel of an active Iranian nuclear procurement network linked to two blacklisted firms, according to a confidential report by the panel seen by Reuters.... View Source ›

David Brunnstrom, "Images show North Korea nuclear reactor may be operating again: experts" Reuters / April 30, 2015 Satellite images taken between January and this month show a North Korean nuclear reactor that can yield material for atomic bombs may be operating again at low power or intermittently, U.S. experts said on Wednesday.... View Source ›

Robert Burns, "Former US commander: Take nuclear missiles off high alert" Associated Press / April 30, 2015 Taking U.S. and Russian missiles off high alert could keep a possible cyberattack from starting a nuclear war, a former commander of U.S. nuclear forces says, but neither country appears willing to increase the lead-time to prepare the weapons for launch.... View Source ›

April 29, 2015

"Iran insists Israel ‘give up the bomb’ as Tehran seeks nuclear-free Middle East" RT / April 28, 2015 Iran has demanded that Israel give up its “nuclear weapons”, as it spoke on behalf of the 120-nation Non-Aligned Movement. Iran’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif said the bloc also wants a nuclear free-zone in the Middle East.... View Source ›

"Anti-Iran sanctions regime collapsing: President Rouhani" Press TV / April 28, 2015 Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says the sanctions regime put in place against the Islamic Republic is collapsing.... View Source ›

"U.S-Japan Joint Statement on the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)" The White House / Japan and the United States reaffirm our commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons and to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).... View Source ›

George Perkovich, "Why the Iran Nuclear Deal Is Not the North Korea Deal" Carnegie Endowment for International Peace / As negotiations and debate proceed over a comprehensive nuclear agreement with Iran, comparisons will inevitably be made with the 1994 Agreed Framework that sought to end North Korea’s (the DPRK’s) nuclear weapons program.... View Source ›

Hannah Thoburn, "Russia building nuclear reactors – and influence – around the globe" Reuters / Russia has been notoriously brazen in using state-owned companies as instruments of national power. President Vladimir Putin’s natural-gas wars with Belarus and Ukraine made headlines and sometimes left substantial parts of Europe in the cold. But Moscow’s exploits in other energy-related areas have been less noticed.... View Source ›

Louis Charbonneau, "Austria, backed by 159 nations, calls for ban on nuclear weapons" Reuters / April 29, 2015 Austria on Tuesday called for banning nuclear weapons because of their catastrophic humanitarian effects, an initiative it said now has the backing of 159 countries.... View Source ›

Patricia Zengerle, "Senate rejects bid to toughen Iran nuclear review bill" Reuters / April 29, 2015 The U.S. Senate rejected an effort on Tuesday to require any nuclear agreement with Iran to be considered an international treaty, which would have forced any deal to be ratified by two-thirds of the Senate's 100 members.... View Source ›

April 28, 2015

Matthew Lee, "Kerry, Zarif meet for first time since Iran framework pact" Associated Press / April 27, 2015 Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting with his Iranian counterpart for the first time since they agreed to a framework for a nuclear deal earlier this month.... View Source ›

Steven Mufson, "Energy Secretary Moniz emerges as Obama’s secret weapon in Iran talks" Washington Post / April 27, 2015 The Energy secretary’s job title has always been a bit of a misnomer. Nearly two-thirds of the department’s budget has nothing at all to do with energy. Instead, it is devoted to taking care of the nation’s nuclear weapons stockpile — and cleaning up radioactive waste from old weapons development sites.... View Source ›

Kathleen Miller and Terry Atlas, "Changes to Iran Measure Would Jeopardize Chances, Democrat Warns" Bloomberg / April 27, 2015 A Democratic U.S. senator urged Republicans not to demand changes that might siphon off Democratic support as lawmakers opened this week’s debate on a measure to give Congress a say in any nuclear deal reached with Iran.... View Source ›

Cara Anna, "World 'closer than ever' to Iran nuclear deal, Kerry says" Associated Press / April 29, 2015 The world is "closer than ever" to reaching a comprehensive nuclear deal with Iran but the work is far from over, with key issues unresolved, Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday told a global gathering on nuclear disarmament, where he and Iran's foreign minister met on the sidelines.... View Source ›

AFP, "Poll shows Americans back Obama's Iran nuclear deal" AFP / April 27, 2015 A solid majority of American voters back President Barack Obama's interim nuclear deal with Iran, a poll by Quinnipiac University showed Monday.... View Source ›

Geert De Clercq, "Next-generation nuclear reactors may not be safer: French watchdog" Reuters / April 27, 2015 The next generation of nuclear reactors being developed in countries such as France, Russia, China and Japan may not be safer than those being built today, French nuclear safety watchdog IRSN said on Monday.... View Source ›

April 27, 2015

Deb Riechmann, "Supporters of Senate Iran bill swatting away amendments" Associated Press / April 27, 2015 Senate proponents of a bill empowering Congress to review and potentially reject any Iran nuclear deal must first win a battle with some colleagues determined to change the legislation in ways that could sink it.... View Source ›

Louis Charbonneau, "U.S.'s Kerry, Iran's Zarif to meet at U.N. anti-nuclear arms conference" Reuters / April 27, 2015 Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif will meet U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry at the opening of a UN conference on the global anti-nuclear weapons treaty on Monday, as they try to make progress in talks on a long-term atomic deal.... View Source ›

Jason Horowitz and Maggie Haberman, "In Rare Remarks, George W. Bush Argues Against the Lifting of Iran Sanctions" NYTimes / April 26, 2015 Former President George W. Bush said the United States must show that it can follow through on its promises, and argued against the lifting of sanctions against Iran during rare remarks about foreign policy in a meeting with hundreds of Jewish donors here Saturday night.... View Source ›

Associated Press, "As Nuclear Powers Meet, NYC Rally Demands End to Weapons" Associated Press / April 26, 2015 Global activists presented 8 million petitions to the U.N. disarmament chief on Sunday demanding a world free of nuclear weapons, kicking off a conference by world powers to review progress toward eventually achieving total disarmament. ... View Source ›

Dan Williams, "Eyeing Arab ties, Israel to observe nuclear pact meeting" Reuters / April 26, 2015 Israel will take part as an observer in a major nuclear non-proliferation conference that opens at the United Nations on Monday, ending a 20-year absence in hope of fostering dialogue with Arab states, a senior Israeli official said.... View Source ›

April 24, 2015

Timothy Gardner, "Iran's military nuclear activity visible under deal: Moniz" Reuters / April 24, 2015 The United States and five other world powers would be able to detect any military capabilities of Iran's nuclear program for at least 10 years under a framework deal agreed upon earlier this month, the U.S. energy secretary said on Thursday.... View Source ›

Osamu Tsukimori,Aaron Sheldrick , "Japan government draft: nuclear to be 20-22 percent of power mix by 2030 - media" Reuters / April 24, 2015 Japan's government has proposed making nuclear energy account for between 20 and 22 percent of the country's electricity mix by 2030, with renewable energy to account for slightly more, media reported on Friday.... View Source ›

Parisa Hafezi, Shadia Nasralla, Mark Trevelyan, "Iran says nuclear talks making gradual headway" Reuters / April 24, 2015 Nuclear talks between Iran and six world powers are making good but slow progress as they work toward a June 30 deadline for a final deal, Tehran's senior negotiator said on Friday.... View Source ›

Carole Landry, "World looks to jump-start nuclear disarmament" Times of Israel / April 24, 2015 Nuclear powers join non-nuclear nations on Monday to launch a conference on non-proliferation, buoyed by the Iran framework deal but alarmed by slow-moving US-Russian disarmament.... View Source ›

Erlan Idrissov, "Kazakhstan: Nuclear Weapons Free for 20 Years" The Diplomat / Twenty years ago today, April 24, 1995, was a momentous day in Kazakhstan’s history. It was the date when the last nuclear warhead was finally removed from our land, eliminating peacefully the world’s fourth largest nuclear arsenal.... View Source ›

"U.S. says Iran nuclear deal will not allow North Korea-style slippage" Associated Foreign Press - Jiji / The United States said Thursday that any deal reached with Iran to curb its nuclear ambitions would be “fundamentally different” from a pact sealed with North Korea that later unraveled.... View Source ›

"Legal fallout" The Economist / Four years after meltdown at the Fukushima Dai-ichi power plant, all Japan’s 48 usable reactors are the focus of safety concerns. An industry that once produced nearly a third of Japan’s electricity remains paralysed.... View Source ›

April 23, 2015

Ernest Scheyder, "CERAWEEK-U.S. energy secretary touts nuclear deal with Iran" Reuters / April 23, 2015 An agreement between the United States, Iran and other world powers designed to curtail Iran's nuclear program is effective and would work if implemented, U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said on Wednesday.... View Source ›

Shadia Nasralla and Parisa Hafezi, "Diplomatic push for final Iran nuclear deal in Vienna" Reuters / April 23, 2015 U.S. Under Secretary Wendy Sherman and Tehran's Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi will resume talks about curbing Iran's nuclear programme later on Thursday, Iranian media said.... View Source ›

Sui-Lee Wee, "China's Xi says backs fair, balanced agreement on Iran" Reuters / April 23, 2015 Chinese President Xi Jinping told Iranian President Hassan Rouhani on Thursday that China would push for a "fair and balanced" nuclear agreement, a day after talks resumed between Iran and the European Union.... View Source ›

Japan Times, "Japan’s ties with Iran to grow after nuclear deal finalized, Abe says" Japan times / April 23, 2015 Japan’s relations with Iran are certain to develop further if a final agreement is made on Tehran’s nuclear program, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said.... View Source ›

Choe Sang-Hun, "U.S. and South Korea Reach Revised Nuclear Deal" NY Times / April 22, 2015 After four and a half years of low-key yet highly sensitive negotiations, the United States and South Korea announced a revised treaty on Wednesday that continues to deny — but not permanently rule out — South Korea the right to enrich uranium or reprocess spent nuclear fuel, even for peaceful purposes.... View Source ›

Jeremy Page and Jay Solomon, "China Warns North Korean Nuclear Threat Is Rising" Wall Street Journal / April 23, 2015 China’s top nuclear experts have increased their estimates of North Korea’s nuclear weapons production well beyond most previous U.S. figures, suggesting Pyongyang can make enough warheads to threaten regional security for the U.S. and its allies.... View Source ›

AFP, "UN raises alarm over stalled nuclear disarmament" AFP / April 23, 2015 The failure of the world's nuclear powers to make headway on disarmament is threatening to unravel a landmark treaty coming up for review next week, the UN's disarmament chief warned Wednesday.... View Source ›

April 22, 2015

David E. Sanger and William J. Broad, "Atomic Labs Across the U.S. Race to Stop Iran" NY Times / April 21, 2015 When diplomats at the Iran talks in Switzerland pummeled Department of Energy scientists with difficult technical questions — like how to keep Iran’s nuclear plants open but ensure that the country was still a year away from building a bomb — the scientists at times turned to a secret replica of Iran’s nuclear facilities built deep in the forests of Tennessee.... View Source ›

Justin Sink, "Obama Proposes Renewing Nuclear Cooperation Agreement With China" Bloomberg / April 21, 2015 President Barack Obama is asking Congress to renew an agreement with China that would allow the two nations to continuing the exchange of nuclear material, equipment and technology over the next three decades.... View Source ›

Patricia Zengerle, "Senate may face contentious debate on Iran nuclear bill" Reuters / April 22, 2015 The U.S. Senate could plunge into a heated debate on legislation giving Congress the power to review a nuclear deal with Iran as soon as Wednesday, as some Republicans sought to change the bill to take a harder line on any agreement.... View Source ›

Kentaro Hamada, "Japan court approves restart of reactors in boost for Abe's nuclear policy" Reuters / April 22, 2015 A Japanese court has rejected a legal bid to block the reopening of the Sendai nuclear power station on safety grounds, removing one of the last big hurdles to switching reactors back on after the 2011 Fukushima crisis paralysed the industry.... View Source ›

Jack Kim, "UPDATE 2-S.Korea, U.S. reach deal to revise civil nuclear pact" Reuters / April 22, 2015 South Korea and the United States reached a deal on Wednesday to revise a 40-year-old civil nuclear pact that gives the Asian country limited freedom to produce fuel for power generation but continues to curb its ability to reprocess spent fuel.... View Source ›

"Iran Nuclear Talks Go Into End Phase Ahead of June Deadline" Associated Press / April 22, 2015 Negotiators are meeting in Vienna in attempts to reach a deal that curbs Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief.... View Source ›

Shadia Nasralla, "UPDATE 2-Timing of sanctions relief may be deal breaker as Iran talks resume" Reuters / April 22, 2015 The timing of sanctions relief is the sticking point in nuclear talks between Iran and the six major world powers this week in Vienna, where negotiations kicked off on Wednesday with a meeting between delegates from Tehran and the European Union.... View Source ›

"Iran nuclear talks could be instructive for North Korea, U.S. says" Associated Press / April 22, 2015 North Korea should learn from the emerging nuclear deal with Iran that Washington is willing to engage its adversaries if it has a “credible” partner to negotiate with, a senior U.S. official said Tuesday.... View Source ›

April 21, 2015

Jim Snyder and Indira Lakshmanan, "Inspectors Need Full Access in Iran Nuclear Deal, Moniz Says" Bloomberg / April 20, 2015 Nuclear inspectors will need unfettered access in Iran as part of a deal to lift economic sanctions, U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz said a day after an Iranian general said military sites must be off limits.... View Source ›

Angela Greiling Keane, "Obama, U.A.E. Crown Prince Discuss Iran Nuclear Agreement" Bloomberg / April 20, 2015 President Barack Obama and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan talked Monday about Middle Eastern security issues, focusing on the negotiations to keep Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, the White House said.... View Source ›

Paul Richter, "Obama administration signals possible compromise in Iran nuclear talks" LA Times / April 21, 2015 Signaling a potential key compromise in negotiations with Iran, the White House said Monday that it might be willing to start providing sanctions relief as soon as Tehran begins putting in place new curbs on its nuclear program.... View Source ›

Grant Smith and Bill Lehane, "Iran Oil Return Seen No Closer as Obama Seeks Creative Angle" Bloomberg / April 20, 2015 The return of embargoed Iranian crude oil to global markets looks no more imminent than before President Barack Obama appeared to leave open the possibility of lifting most sanctions from the outset if a nuclear deal can be reached, BNP Paribas SA and UBS Group AG said.... View Source ›

Associated Press, "Nuclear Waste Drums Appear Stable After Signs of Reactions" AP / April 21, 2015 Dozens of drums of radioactive waste at one of the nation's premier weapons laboratories are stable after some showed signs of chemical reactions over the past year, according to federal officials.... View Source ›

April 20, 2015

Ali Akbar Dareini, "Iran's powerful Guard rejects inspection of military sites" Associated Press / April 19, 2015 International nuclear inspectors will be barred from all Iranian military sites under any deal with world powers, a senior commander in the Revolutionary Guard said Sunday, setting up a possible standoff as negotiators try to reach a final deal.... View Source ›

Sam Wilkin, "Khamenei says Iran nuclear weapons are U.S. 'myth'" Reuters / April 19, 2015 Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei told military commanders on Sunday the United States had created the "myth" of nuclear weapons to portray Iran as a threat, hardening his rhetoric before nuclear negotiations resume this week.... View Source ›

Thomas Erdbrink, "Billboards in Iran Say ‘Death to America,’ but Officials Say ‘Let’s Make a Deal’" NYTimes / April 19, 2015 Wearing business suits set off with sneakers, the American executives trailed a young guide along the narrow sidewalks of the capital of Iran, once branded by the United States as part of the “Axis of Evil.”... View Source ›

John Hudson, "Military Facilities Become Focus of Iran Deal" Foreign Policy / April 19, 2015 The top Republican on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee said Sunday he could tolerate a series of concessions by the White House on Tehran’s nuclear program, but a “huge” factor in determining his support for a deal is the degree to which inspectors have access to Iran’s military facilities.... View Source ›

Fars News, "Iran: IAEA Convinced about Neutron Transport Issue" Fars News / April 20, 2015 Iranian experts have convinced the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) about the issue of the papers published in the country in relation to neutron transport and associated modeling, a spokesman announced on Monday, adding that Tehran will provide the IAEA with only one time access to the Parchin military site.... View Source ›

April 17, 2015

Deb Riechmann, "Obama could ease many Iranian sanctions without US Congress" Associated Press / April 16, 2015 Even if the U.S. Congress rejects his final Iranian nuclear deal, President Barack Obama could use his executive pen to offer Tehran a hefty portion of sanctions relief on his own.... View Source ›

David Welna, "Experts Divided Over Iran's Cyberactivity Since Start Of Nuclear Talks" NPR / April 16, 2015 The U.S. government and cybersecurity companies agree that Iran has greatly improved its cyberattack capability over the past two years. A report being released tomorrow says Iran's cyberattacks have increased during nuclear talks, but some experts question that conclusion.... View Source ›

Andrew Tilghman, "Dempsey: Military plans for Iran remain 'intact'" Military Times / April 16, 2015 Russia's decision to sell powerful surface-to-air missile systems to Iran will not thwart the Pentagon's plans for possible military action aimed at preventing Iran from building a nuclear weapon, the Defense Department's top officer said Thursday.... View Source ›

Shane Harris, "Report: Iranian Hackers Eye U.S. Grid" Daily Beast / April 16, 2015 Iranian hackers are trying to identify computer systems that control infrastructure in the United States, such as the electrical grid, presumably with an eye towards damaging those systems, according to a new report from a cyber security firm and a think tank in Washington, D.C.... View Source ›

Steve Herman, "UN's Nuclear Treaty Review Comes Amid Heightened Proliferation Concerns" VOA / April 17, 2015 Later this month the United Nations hosts an important review conference for the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) - the landmark deal aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons. This year's review is expected to be highly contentious and could test the treaty's viability.... View Source ›

AFP, "Iran holds Obama 'responsible' for fate of nuclear deal: Zarif" AFP / April 15, 2015 Iran's foreign minister said Wednesday that US President Barack Obama was 'responsible' for making sure that Washington respects a final agreement over Iran's nuclear programme even though Congress has been given a say on the accord's fate.... View Source ›