Nonproliferation News - November 25, 2009

FISSILE MATERIAL
Big powers draft resolution to press Iran at IAEA
Reuters

Waiting for Tehran
Foreign Policy by Carol E. B. Choksy and Jamsheed K. Choksy

Iran official warns Russia of legal action over S-300
Reuters

Mullen leads US in arms control talks with Russia
AP

EAST ASIA
1. Japan says it will soon release details of nuclear pact with U.S.
WP by Blaine Harden
Japan's new government, already bickering with the United States about the location of a Marine air station on Okinawa, appears intent on revealing evidence of a decades-old secret pact between Tokyo and Washington that allowed U.S. ships and aircraft to carry nuclear weapons on stopovers in Japan.

MIDDLE EAST
2. Big powers draft resolution to press Iran at IAEA
Reuters
Six world powers have drafted a resolution at the UN nuclear watchdog urging Iran to clarify the purpose of its previously secret uranium enrichment site and confirm it has no more hidden atomic work, diplomats said.

3. US patience with Iran may pay off
Khaleej Times by AFP
The Obama administration is wise to wait for Iran to respond clearly to a confidence-building nuclear offer in the hope the divided leadership in Tehran comes to its senses, analysts say.

4. Russia expects Iran to agree to IAEA nuclear deal
AFP
Russia expects Iran to agree to enrich uranium abroad under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a Russian diplomatic spokesman said Tuesday.

5. Iran says west creating rift with Moscow
FT by Najmeh Bozorgmehr
Iran’s top nuclear official on Tuesday accused western countries of trying to disturb the Islamic regime’s relations with Russia, in an indication of the country’s concerns that major powers might be getting more united than before.

6. Iran seeks 100% guarantee for exchange of nuclear fuel
Tehran Times
Iran wants a 100 percent guarantee that it will receive the higher-enriched nuclear fuel for its medical research reactor if it decides to exchange its low-enriched uranium in the proposed deal, the Foreign Ministry spokesman said here on Tuesday.

7. Iran not opposed to sending uranium abroad
AFP by Jay Deshmukh
Top Iranian officials said on Tuesday that Tehran is ready to send its low-enriched uranium abroad provided there is simultaneous exchange on its own soil of nuclear fuel processed by world powers.

8. Obama Writes to Brazil’s Leader About Iran
NYT by Alexei Barrionuevo
President Obama sent a letter on Sunday to President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil reiterating the American position on Iran’s nuclear program, a day before Iran’s president made his first state visit to Brazil, an aide to Mr. da Silva said Tuesday.

9. Iran official warns Russia of legal action over S-300
Reuters
Iran can take legal action if Russia refuses to fulfill its commitments to deliver an advanced missile defense system to the Islamic Republic, a senior military official said on Tuesday.

SOUTH ASIA
10. Fully committed to implementing civil nuclear deal, says Obama 
The Hindu by Malini Parthasarathy
The summit meeting between Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and U.S. President Barack Obama, taking place on a grey and rainy day at the White House, ended on an optimistic note with the U.S. President reaffirming that he believed that the relationship between the two countries was one of the “defining partnerships of the 21st century” and that the U.S. welcomes India’s leadership role in Asia.

RUSSIA/FSU
11. Mullen leads US in arms control talks with Russia
AP
President Barack Obama's top military adviser attended the latest talks with Russia to replace an expiring Cold War-era arms control agreement, the U.S. said Tuesday.

EUROPE

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

MISCELLANEOUS

OPINION
12. Waiting for Tehran
Foreign Policy by Carol E. B. Choksy and Jamsheed K. Choksy
Since the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany (the P5+1) first proposed the arrangement on October 1, pronouncements and leaks from Tehran have said everything from "Yes, we'll cooperate" to "No, we won't" to "Then again, maybe."

13. SPIEGEL Interview with Iran's Nuclear Ambassador: 'We Have Nothing to Hide'
Spiegel by Dieter Bednarz
Ali Asghar Soltanieh serves as Iran's ambassador to the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In an interview with SPIEGEL, he discusses why Iran will continue with its uranium-enrichment activities whether the world likes it or not and why the West should help rather than threaten it.