Nonproliferation News - October 30, 2009

FISSILE MATERIAL
Iran Rejects Deal to Ship Out Uranium, Officials Report
NYT by David E. Sanger, Steven Erlanger, and Robert F. Worth

US trying to gauge Iran nuclear response: Clinton
AFP

The Return of Israel's Existential Dread
WSJ by Yossi Klein Halevi

Russia to boost Obama with nuclear treaty: report
AFP

EAST ASIA
1. No deal with North Korea
Foreign Policy (The Cable) by Josh Rogin
Despite reports out of Asia, no deal was struck during interactions between U.S. and North Korean negotiators at the conference in San Diego this week and North Korean representatives did not indicate in any public way that they were altering their position related to resuming the Six Party Talks.

2. No plan yet for U.S.-North Korea talks, U.S. says
Reuters
Informal contacts between U.S. officials and a senior North Korean diplomat have not produced plans for formal bilateral talks, the U.S. State Department said on Thursday.

3. China's Hu invites North Korea's Kim to visit: report
Reuters
Chinese President Hu Jintao has invited reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il for a visit as Pyongyang has reached out to its foes and signaled it could return to dormant nuclear talks hosted by Beijing.

4. NKorea's latest missile tests failed: report
AFP
North Korea's short-range missile tests earlier this month were a failure with none of the five projectiles reaching its target, a report said Thursday.

MIDDLE EAST
5. Iran Rejects Deal to Ship Out Uranium, Officials Report
NYT by David E. Sanger, Steven Erlanger, and Robert F. Worth
Iran told the United Nations nuclear watchdog on Thursday that it would not accept a plan its negotiators agreed to last week to send its stockpile of uranium out of the country, according to diplomats in Europe and American officials briefed on Iran’s response.

6. US trying to gauge Iran nuclear response: Clinton
AFP
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday the United States was still trying to determine the extent of Iran's response to a UN-brokered plan on nuclear cooperation with major powers.

7. US still awaits 'formal response' from Iran on nuclear deal
AFP
The United States is still awaiting a "formal response" from Iran to a UN-brokered plan on nuclear cooperation with major powers, the State Department said Thursday.

8. EU expresses "grave concern" over Iran's nuclear programme
Deutsche Presse-Agentur
The European Union renewed pressure on Iran on Friday by urging co-operation over its controversial nuclear programme and demanding the 'prompt release' of EU citizens held in custody.

9. Iran nuclear sanctions 'unlikely'
BBC
Further sanctions against Iran over its nuclear plans are unlikely, a senior Russian official has said.

10. IAEA says had "good trip" to Iran enrichment site
Reuters
The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog's mission to a newly disclosed plant in Iran said on Thursday the inspectors had what he termed a good trip but he declined to give any details.

SOUTH ASIA

RUSSIA/FSU
11. Russia to boost Obama with nuclear treaty: report
AFP
Moscow and Washington want to reach a deal on a key nuclear disarmament treaty before US President Barack Obama receives his Nobel Peace Prize on December 10, a Kremlin source was quoted as saying Friday.

12. Russia-US to sign nuclear agreement by December
Russia Today
Russia and the US hope a new deal to reduce nuclear stockpiles will be agreed upon by December. Former US ambassador to West Germany Richard Burt discussed the new treaty with RT.

13. Top US adviser assures Russia at nuclear talks
AFP by Alexander Osipovich
US National Security Adviser James Jones stressed the White House's desire for friendly relations with Moscow as he met Russian officials on Thursday for nuclear disarmament talks.

EUROPE
14. Ridding Germany of U.S. Nuclear Weapons
NYT by Judy Dempsey
Germany’s new foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, in a bid to distinguish himself as quickly as possible in his new job, called Saturday  “for a country free of nuclear weapons.”  There are, however, two hurdles Mr. Westerwelle will have to jump. One is Europe’s two nuclear powers, Britain and France, which are afraid that after the U.S. arms are gone, their own nuclear weapons will come under scrutiny. The other is resistance inside the U.S.-led NATO military alliance.

15. Cross-party group urges end to nuclear weapons threat
Guardian by Richard Norton-Taylor
October 29, 2009
A cross-party group of senior politicans joined former defence chiefs today to promote the cause of nuclear disarmament, an issue they described as critical but too often ignored.

INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

MISCELLANEOUS
16. Waiting on Administration Input, Lawmakers Delay Vote on Biosecurity Bill
GSN
A key U.S. Senate committee yesterday delayed the vote on legislation aimed at strengthening security at the country's biological research facilities (see GSN, Oct. 22).

OPINION
17. The Return of Israel's Existential Dread
WSJ by Yossi Klein Halevi
Given these dreadful options, one might assume that the Israeli public would respond with relief to reports that Iran is now considering the International Atomic Energy Agency's proposal to transfer 70% of its known, low-enriched uranium to Russia for treatment that would seriously reduce its potential for military application. In fact, Israelis from the right and the left have reacted with heightened anxiety.

18. Why Obama’s Iran Policy Will Fail
CBS News by Dilip Hiro
While the tone of the Obama administration is different from that of its predecessor, and some of its foreign policies diverge from those of George W. Bush, at their core both administrations subscribe to the same doctrine: Whatever the White House perceives as a threat -- whether it be Iran, North Korea, or the proliferation of long-range missiles -- must be viewed as such by Moscow and Beijing.

19. What serious diplomacy looks like -- in Turkey
Politico by Flynt Leverett and Hillary Mann Leverett
When Erdogan does come to Washington, Obama would do well to listen to his Turkish visitor about the current state of play in the strategically vital Middle East. Erdogan will come to Washington at a time of increasing influence for Turkey in the broader Middle East — while America’s influence in the region continues to decline.

20. Moscow in the Middle
Time by Dimitri K. Simes
Iran has thus far proved to be one of the most significant tests of President Barack Obama's national-security leadership. And the stakes are high: failure could mean an Iranian nuclear weapon and a Middle East arms race on the one hand, and military action by the U.S. or Israel that could inflame the region and create an Islamic backlash against the U.S. on the other. The key question is what price the President is willing to pay to avoid such outcomes.