Nonproliferation News - November 16, 2009

FISSILE MATERIAL
Obama presses Iran on atomic deal, Tehran defiant
Reuters by Caren Bohan and Oleg Shchedrov

Nuclear watchdog chief to issue new report on Iran program
RIA Novosti

US, Russia see deal on missile cuts by year-end
AFP by Stuart Williams

Alliance and North Korea
Korea Times by Tong Kim

EAST ASIA

MIDDLE EAST
1. Obama presses Iran on atomic deal, Tehran defiant
Reuters by Caren Bohan and Oleg Shchedrov
President Barack Obama said on Sunday time was running out for diplomacy in a dispute over Iran's nuclear programme, but a top Iranian official said it was up to the West to show it sincerely wanted a deal.

2. Ahmadinejad says Western pressure empowers Iran
AP by Nasser Karimi
An impasse in nuclear talks between world powers and Iran would only hurt the West by making Tehran push harder to advance its technology, according to the latest remarks by the Iranian president.

3. Turkey open to storing Iranian uranium
Deutsche Welle
While Iran has not publicly responded to a UN suggestion that it temporarily store some of its uranium abroad, Turkey’s willingness to cooperate is a positive sign for the West.

4. Russia delays Iran's Bushehr nuclear power station
Reuters
Russia on Monday said it would not start a nuclear reactor at Iran's Bushehr atomic power station by the end of the year as planned, citing technical reasons.

5. US, Russia say sanctions a posssibility for Iran
AP
President Barack Obama said Sunday that "time is running out" for Iran to sign on to a deal to ship its enriched uranium out of the country for further processing, and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said he still hopes to persuade Iran to send its enriched uranium to his country.

6. Iran 'has rejected' nuclear deal: French FM
AFP
Iran has in effect rejected a UN-brokered deal aimed at preventing Tehran from acquiring nuclear weapons, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said in an interview published on Sunday.

7. Guards hold key to power in Iran
UPI
Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps has amassed unprecedented power in defending the regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad since his disputed re-election in June triggered widespread unrest.

8. Nuclear watchdog chief to issue new report on Iran program
RIA Novosti
IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei will issue a new report on Iran's nuclear program to the agency's board of directors on Monday, Iran's Mehr news agency reported.

SOUTH ASIA
9. Pakistan's nuclear assets safe and sound: PM
Xinhua
Pakistani Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said Sunday that the country's nuclear assets are in safe hands and no body including the United States can have access to them.

RUSSIA/FSU
10. US, Russia see deal on missile cuts by year-end
AFP by Stuart Williams
The leaders of Russia and the United States said Sunday they were on the end of the year the text of a new treaty setting out major cuts in their nuclear weapons arsenals.

11. U.S., Russian leaders say nations closer to deal to cut nuclear arms
CNN
Russia and the United States are well on their way to reducing their nuclear stockpiles, President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Sunday.

12. US-Russia arms control talks progressing
AP by Desmond Butler
The United States and Russia have agreed on the broad outlines of a deal to replace a major Cold-War era arms control agreement and are trying to work out remaining technical issues, U.S. officials say.

EUROPE

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
13. Marshall Islands ratifies Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty
Yokwe Online
The Marshall Islands has ratified the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT), becoming the 151st country to do so.

MISCELLANEOUS

OPINION
14. Test of wills over Iran plan
Asia Times by Kaveh L. Afrasiabi
The Barack Obama administration's reliance on quick fixes with regard to Iran's contested nuclear program threatens to derail the White House's Iran engagement, thus delivering a severe blow to the overall edifice of the US's new Middle East approach.

15. Alliance and North Korea
Korea Times by Tong Kim
These timely summit consultations certainly contribute to the building of a unified multilateral stance on the issue of denuclearization. Although the five countries concerned have different perceptions regarding the threat of a de-facto nuclear North Korea, they all agree that the North should return to the six-party process. All five view the process as the best way to achieve a nuclear free Korean Peninsula.

16. Succumbing to "Worst-Case" Analysis of North Korea
Huffington Post by Eric C. Anderson
Analysis of a potential adversary's intentions is hard -- particularly when that adversary chooses to behave like a belligerent hermit. Such is the case with North Korea. Having decided to eschew modernity by cleaving to a feudal version of socialism, Pyongyang has rendered assessment of North Korea's political intentions an art best likened to divining the truth through an examination of scattered chicken bones. Or so a reading of press reports concerning the 10 November 2009 North-South naval clash would have us believe. According to the Washington Post, New York Times, and National Public Radio, the naval skirmish was likely a North Korean attempt to set the agenda for President Obama's trip to Seoul. Worst-case analysis at its best.