Nonproliferation News - December 2, 2009

FISSILE MATERIAL
Russia shifts stance on Iran, Ahmadinejad defiant
Reuters by Oleg Shchedrov

Ex-IAEA inspector: Press Iran harder
Jerusalem Post by Hilary Leila Krieger

US treaty inspections to end at Russia missile plant: report
AFP

What to Do About Europe's Secret Nukes
Time by Eben Harrell

EAST ASIA
1. S.Korea: North seeking to buy time to make nukes
AFP
South Korea Wednesday questioned North Korea's calls for a peace treaty with the United States, declaring its real aim is to buy time to make more nuclear weapons.

MIDDLE EAST
2. Russia shifts stance on Iran, Ahmadinejad defiant
Reuters by Oleg Shchedrov
Russia will join any consensus on more sanctions against Iran, a senior Russian diplomatic source said on Tuesday after Tehran declared it would expand nuclear activity in defiance of a U.N. rebuke.

3. Russia not to stand aloof on Iran sanctions - source
Reuters by Oleg Shchedrov
Russia signalled impatience with Iran and growing acceptance of the West's threat of sanctions on Tuesday, pointing to Tehran's plans for new nuclear enrichment projects as a reason for pessimism about a diplomatic solution.

4. Ahmadinejad: Iran will refine uranium to 20 pct
AP
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran will enrich its uranium to a higher level in direct contravention to an international call to halt the process.

5. Iran sanctions 'will increase oil prices'
Press TV
Iran has warned Western powers against sanctions on the Islamic Republic, saying any stop in Tehran's crude exports could lead to price hikes.

6. Ex-IAEA inspector: Press Iran harder
Jerusalem Post by Hilary Leila Krieger
A former international weapons inspector assessed Tuesday that engaging Iran on its nuclear program hadn't worked and called for a containment and deterrence regime to accompany an increase in pressure on Teheran.

SOUTH ASIA
7. India Seeks U.S. Help in Getting Nuclear Weapons Recognized
GSN
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said he would like to see Washington assist his nation in achieving international recognition as a nuclear weapon state, the Press Trust of India reported today (see GSN, Nov. 25).

8. Al-Qaida wants Pakistan's nuclear weapons: Obama
Times of India
Stating that the al-Qaida and Taliban are keen to lay their hands on nuclear weapons and use them against the United States and its allies, US President Barack Obama vowed to secure loose nuclear materials from terrorists.

RUSSIA/FSU
9. US treaty inspections to end at Russia missile plant: report
AFP
US arms inspectors must end their almost 15-year monitoring of Russia's main missile plant this week, as the key US-Russia nuclear treaty expires, a Russian military-diplomatic source said Tuesday.

10. US, Russia urge completion of arms control deal
AP
The U.S. and Russian presidents are urging their nuclear negotiators to step up efforts to complete a new arms control agreement to replace a Cold War-era pact expiring this week.

EUROPE

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
11. New Chief Takes Charge at the U.N. Nuclear Agency
NYT by William J. Broad
A new top inspector took charge Tuesday of the International Atomic Energy Agency as it faces one of the most turbulent periods in its 52-year history.

MISCELLANEOUS

OPINION
12. Green leverage over Iran
WP by Michael Gerson
Coinciding with the Afghan decision, Iran has entered a final stage of irrevocable choices about its nuclear program. It has backed out of a deal that would have sent most of its uranium stockpile abroad to be processed for peaceful purposes.

13. Imposing idiot sanctions on Iran is a direct route to war
The Guardian by Simon Jenkins
At present the west, covered in blood and expense, is trying to leave Iraq and Afghanistan, yet at the same time it stumbles into an identical trap in Iran.

14. The Iran Syndrome
Newsweek by Christopher Dickey
The bottom line for President Barack Obama is: how do you negotiate any kind of agreement about nuclear weapons with a regime that believes it is above the law? "Trust, but verify," Ronald Reagan said when dealing with the Russians.

15. Israel's Patience with Tehran Wearing Thin
Der Spiegel by Dieter Bednarz, Erich Follath and Christoph Schult
Iran's leaders continue to reject compromises over their nuclear program and are rebuffing the IAEA. The West is likely to respond with tighter sanctions, but that is unlikely to satisfy Israel, which has attack plans already drawn up.

16. What to Do About Europe's Secret Nukes
Time by Eben Harrell
It is Europe's dirty secret that the list of nuclear-capable countries extends beyond those — Britain and France — who have built their own weapons. Nuclear bombs are stored on air-force bases in Italy, Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands — and planes from each of those countries are capable of delivering them.