Nonproliferation News - December 1, 2009

FISSILE MATERIAL
Iran enrichment plans largely bluster, experts say
AP by Ali Akbar Dareini and Jason Keyser

Iran hints at diplomatic solution to nuclear crisis
AFP by Aresu Eqbali and Farhad Pouladi

Measuring the Return on Diplomacy
WSJ by Gerald F. Seib

US hopes to clinch draft START deal by end December
AFP

EAST ASIA
1. China says wants US talks with NKorea to succeed
AP
China voiced hope Tuesday that a rare direct meeting between North Korean and American officials next week would result in Pyongyang returning to talks on dismantling its nuclear program.

2. N. Korea not yet indicated it will return to 6-way talks: State Dept. 
Yonhap by Hwang Doo-hyong
North Korea has given no indication that it will return to the six-party talks, the State Department said Monday, even as the U.S. point man on North Korea is set to visit Pyongyang to attempt to revive the nuclear negotiations.

3. U.S. wants to close dialogue with N. Korea in single phase: official 
Yonhap by Tony Chang
The U.S., which is set to hold direct bilateral talks with North Korea next week to lure the country back to denuclearization talks, wants the contact to be a one-off event but the North is expected to attempt to drag out the two-way dialogue, a senior Seoul official said Monday.

MIDDLE EAST
4. Iran enrichment plans largely bluster, experts say
AP by Ali Akbar Dareini and Jason Keyser
Iran's announcement of plans to build 10 more uranium enrichment facilities is largely bluster after a strong rebuke from the U.N.'s nuclear agency, analysts said Monday. Nonetheless, the defiance is fueling calls among Western allies for new punitive sanctions to freeze Iran's nuclear program.

5. Iran says to protest over IAEA nuclear resolution
Reuters
Iran said on Tuesday it intended to take unspecified legal action over an IAEA rebuke of its nuclear activities and would provide Iranians with enough gasoline in order to trump any further U.N. sanctions.

6. Iran seeks diplomatic solution for nuclear issue: Larijani
Tehran Times
Majlis Speaker Ali Larijani says Iran is seeking a diplomatic solution for the nuclear issue and will continue its nuclear activities under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency.

7. Iran hints at diplomatic solution to nuclear crisis
AFP by Aresu Eqbali and Farhad Pouladi
Parliament speaker Ali Larijani said Monday Iran's nuclear issue can be resolved through talks, softening his tone a day after Tehran defiantly announced plans for 10 new uranium enrichment plants.

8. Measuring the Return on Diplomacy
WSJ by Gerald F. Seib
President Barack Obama has invested heavily in the Bank of Diplomacy and International Engagement -- and, for almost a year, has waited and hoped for a return on that investment.

9. Obama Vow, Iran's Stance and the Options
NYT by John Vinocur
The place was a small auditorium on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, and three panelists were on stage to discuss the topic of “what now for the United States and Iran?”

10. Iran says UN criticism prompted new nuclear plans
AP by Ali Akbar Dareini
Iran's nuclear chief on Monday said U.N. criticism pushed his country to retaliate by announcing ambitious plans for more uranium enrichment. With tensions rising over deadlocked negotiations, France said diplomacy was not working and sanctions against Iran were needed.

11. World powers threaten new sanctions against Iran
AFP
World powers threatened new sanctions against Iran on Monday after Tehran defiantly pledged to build 10 more uranium enrichment plants, but Russia warned against further escalating the dispute.

12. Iran sends mixed signals on quitting nuclear curb pact
Reuters by Parisa Hafezi
An influential Iranian leader suggested on Monday Iran should quit the Non-Proliferation Treaty in protest against a U.N. censure over its nuclear activity, but its atomic energy chief dismissed such a move.

13. US envoy to UN slams Iran enrichment plan
AP by John Heilprin
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations on Monday called Iran's plans to build an additional 10 uranium enrichment plants "unacceptable," warning they could bring increased international pressure on Tehran.

SOUTH ASIA
14. India tightens security at nuclear facilities
Reuters by Bappa Majumdar
India has tightened security at its nuclear facilities, assigning a rapid response military team to complement civil protection measures after intelligence warnings the sites were a prime target for militants.

15. Singh’s nuke gamble II - PM leads effort to get India a place in nuclear club
The Telegraph by K.P. Nayar
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s talks in Port of Spain last week may eventually lead to an initiative to amend the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) to include India, along with the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, as a nuclear weapons state.

RUSSIA/FSU
16. US hopes to clinch draft START deal by end December
AFP
The United States said Monday it hopes to clinch a draft of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) with Russia by the end of December to replace the existing accord that expires Saturday.

17. Medvedev, Obama discuss new arms reduction pact
RIA Novosti
The Russian and U.S. presidents discussed a new bilateral arms reduction treaty in a phone conversation on Monday, the Kremlin said.

EUROPE

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

MISCELLANEOUS

OPINION
18. Beware the winds of December
Asia Times by Alastair Crooke
While America has been absorbed by the Afghan election imbroglio, a less-noticed event slid into place in the Middle East. It is less dramatic than President Hamid Karzai's near removal; but this event tilts the strategic balance: Turkey finally shrugged off its United States straight-jacket; stared-past any beckoning European Union membership; and has fixed its eyes toward its former Ottoman Asian and Middle Eastern neighbors.

19. U.S., Israel closing gaps on Iran and peacemaking
JTA by Leslie Susser
Israel and the United States seem closer than they have been for months on two key issues: peacemaking with the Palestinians and Iranian nuclear ambitions.