Nonproliferation News - October 19, 2009

FISSILE MATERIAL
Iran says will enrich uranium if no deal in Vienna
Reuters by Parisa Hafezi

Russia Worries About the Price of Oil, Not a Nuclear Iran
WSJ by Garry Kasparov

Japan to pressure U.S. over no pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons
Mainichi Daily News

Conferees Approve Study of Nuclear Bomb
WP by Walter Pincus

EAST ASIA
1. SKorea's Top Diplomat Urges NKorea to Disarm
NYT by AP
South Korea's foreign minister called North Korea's uranium enrichment program ''worrisome'' and pressed the communist nation Monday to take real steps toward nuclear disarmament.

2. North Korea hoping for summit with South -official
Reuters by Jon Herskovitz
North Korea has been seeking a summit between the leaders of the rival Koreas, an official in Seoul said on Sunday, marking another step in its attempts to reach out to the world after being hit by U.N. sanctions.

3. China could bend on Iran nuclear sanctions, say experts
Channel News Asia by AFP
China has repeatedly said it opposes sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme, but Beijing could make concessions to protect its wider interests, especially in terms of Sino-US ties, experts say.

4. Japan, Australia lead talks on nuclear arms reduction
AFP
An international committee led by Japan and Australia began a fourth round of talks Sunday to draft recommendations on how to achieve a nuclear weapon-free world.

5. Japanese FM Urges US Not To Use Nuclear Weapons First
Bernama
Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada on Sunday called on the United States to make a pledge not to use nuclear weapons first, China's Xinhua news agency said quoting local media reports Monday.

6. Japan to pressure U.S. over no pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons
Mainichi Daily News
Tokyo will ask Washington to agree to no pre-emptive use of nuclear weapons, Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada said over the weekend.

7. In Japan trip, Gates faces a more independent-minded ally
AFP by Dan De Luce
Defense Secretary Robert Gates will take up the delicate issue of US forces in Japan when he visits Tokyo this week for talks with a new government less willing to accommodate the American military.

MIDDLE EAST
8. Iran warns the West ahead of new nuclear talks
AFP
Iran headed into new talks with world powers on its nuclear programme on Monday vowing to step up it uranium enrichment if it does not get what it wants from the negotiations.

9. Iran's nuclear disclosures: why they matter
CSM by Peter Grier
Recent events hint that the pace and complexity of Iran's nuclear program may have increased. Now, Iranian leaders may – or may not – want the bomb. But it seems clear that Tehran wants to develop into a regional power, meaning that time could be short for the United States and its allies to engage with a rising threat in an area crucial to both global energy production and the future of Islam.

10. Iran says will enrich uranium if no deal in Vienna
Reuters by Parisa Hafezi
Iran will not hesitate to produce higher enriched uranium on its territory if nuclear talks fail with the U.N. watchdog, Russia, France and the United States in Vienna on Monday, an Iranian official said.

11. US considering ways to accept Iran enrichment
Press TV
The United States is considering ways to officially announce that it has agreed to Iran's demand to locally enrich uranium, sources say.

12. Iran seeks to buy highly-enriched uranium
Press TV
A team of Iranian experts heads for the Austrian capital to discuss the terms of a deal to buy highly-enriched uranium without exchanging any of Tehran's low-enriched uranium, Press TV has learned.

13. Talks on Iranian Reactor Deal Show Divisions on Sanctions
WP by Glenn Kessler
A team of Obama administration officials, joined by officials from France and Russia, will begin negotiating in Vienna on Monday with Iranian diplomats over terms of an unusual deal that could remove a significant amount of Tehran's low-enriched uranium from the country.

14. Experts doubt effectiveness of US sanctions on Iran
AFP by Emmanuel Parisse
A flurry of congressional measures aimed at toughening US sanctions on Iran to pressure the Islamic republic to abandon its suspect nuclear program will likely have little to no impact, experts say.

SOUTH ASIA
15. NPT and Obama: How long can India hold out?
Times of India by Indrani Bagchi
Even as New Delhi went into a frenzy over the mere thought that Barack Obama might indirectly be seeking to "pressure" India to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the real killer arrow was still in the American quiver, virtually forgotten but still enormously potent - the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) which is expected to knock on India's door yet again soon and with much greater purpose.

RUSSIA/FSU
16. Clinton says agrees with Russia on Iran steps
Reuters
The United States and Russia agree they must consider further steps against Iran if they are unable to reach a diplomatic solution to its nuclear programme, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in a newspaper.

17. Russia and US to resume nuclear reduction talks
AFP
Russia and the United States resume talks Monday in Geneva to thrash out a new agreement on limiting their nuclear arsenals, amid signs they are moving towards an accord.

EUROPE

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS
18. U.N. nuclear chief calls for U.S.-Iran talks on nuclear dispute
Reuters
Direct talks without preconditions between the United States and Iran are the only solution to the conflict over Tehran's nuclear program, the U.N. nuclear agency's head was quoted as saying Saturday.

MISCELLANEOUS
19. Conferees Approve Study of Nuclear Bomb
WP by Walter Pincus
The first step toward rebuilding one of the nation's tactical nuclear weapons so it could be put in the stockpile well into the 21st century has been approved by House and Senate conferees.

OPINION
20. How Obama's Secret Iran Talks Set Stage for a Nuclear Deal
Time by Massimo Calabresi
President Barack Obama has a personal stake in the outcome of Monday's meeting in Vienna between Western and Iranian nuclear experts on the future of Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium. That's because, Administration sources tell TIME, Obama personally weighed in three times during secret, multiparty negotiations with the Iranians over the last four months — in what has become not just a test of Iran's nuclear intentions but also a test of Obama's effort to limit Iran's nuclear ambitions through a combination of sanctions, threats and incentives.

21. Five Myths About Iran's Nuclear Program
WP by Joseph Cirincione
Iran's expanding nuclear program poses one of the Obama administration's most vexing foreign policy challenges. Fortunately, the conditions for containing Tehran's efforts may be better today than they have been in years. But the prospects for developing a strategy with a solid chance of success improve if we dispose of five persistent myths about Iran's nuclear program.

22. Russia Worries About the Price of Oil, Not a Nuclear Iran
WSJ by Garry Kasparov
Last Wednesday in Moscow, the remaining illusions the Obama administration held for cooperation with Russia on the Iranian nuclear program were thrown in Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's face. Stronger sanctions against Iran would be "counterproductive," said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, just days after President Dmitry Medvedev said sanctions were likely inevitable. This apparent inconsistency should remind us that Mr. Medvedev is little more than a well-placed spectator, and that Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who discounted sanctions in a statement from Beijing, is still the voice that matters.

23. Analysis: Washington's overplayed hand on Russia
AP by Steven R. Hurst
The Obama administration was elated a month ago when the Russian president said sanctions against Iran for its nuclear program could become "inevitable." Washington's reaction may have been significantly premature.

24. Obama’s Nuclear Agenda
Korea Times by Joseph S. Nye, Jr.
The announcement of a secret uranium enrichment facility located on a military base in Iran has sharpened President Barack Obama's efforts to place nuclear proliferation issues at the top of the world agenda. And 2010 will be a critical year.

25. Brazil a nuclear power? Probably not
Sacramento Bee by Andres Oppenheimer
Latin America has long prided itself on being the world's most populated nuclear weapons-free region, but recent statements by top Brazilian and Venezuelan officials are making many of us wonder for how long that will be the case.