NORTH KOREA
Iran’s leader condemns West for not making nuclear concessions
Marcus George, Reuters – March 7, 2013
Iran’s supreme leader criticized Western powers on Thursday for not offering concessions in talks last week, saying the West was using the nuclear issue as a pretext to impose sanctions and harm the Islamic Republic. It was Ayatollah Ali Khamenei’s first reaction to what Iranian officials described as “positive” nuclear talks in Almaty, Kazakhstan, during which the P5+1 group of nations offered modest sanctions relief in return for Iran curbing higher grade uranium enrichment.
U.S. envoy walks out of nuclear meeting over Iran’s Israel remark
Fredrik Dahl, Reuters – March 6, 2013
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations nuclear watchdog walked out of an agency meeting on Wednesday in protest when Iran’s representative accused Washington’s ally Israel of “genocide”, diplomats said. Officials from Canada and Australia also left the closed-door meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) 35-nation governing board when Iran’s Ali Asghar Soltanieh made his statement during a debate on Syria, they said.
NORTH KOREA
North Korea Nuclear War Threat: Pyongyang Vows to Attack U.S. and South Korea
Andrea Ayres, Policymic – March 7, 2013
North Korea has threatened to launch a pre-emptive nuclear attack against the United States and South Korea on Thursday morning. This marks this first time North Korea has made such a threat. “Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to preemptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest.” The statement was sent by the North Korean foreign ministry and aired on the state run KCNA news agency.
U.N. resolution adds 3 N. Korean arms dealers to sanctions list: draft
Yonhap News Agency – March 7, 2013
The U.N. Security Council is set to add three North Korean weapons dealers and two entities to its new resolution to punish the North for conducting its third nuclear test last month, according to a copy of a draft resolution obtained by Yonhap News Agency on Thursday. The three North Korean arms dealers are: Yon Chong-nam, the chief representative for the Korea Mining Developing Trading Corp (KOMID); Ko Chol-chae, the deputy chief representative for the KOMID; and Mun Chong-chol, an official at Tanchon Central Bank, the resolution showed.
Australia, citing nuclear test, bars North Korea from reopening embassy
Australia has barred North Korea from reopening an embassy in Canberra because of the reclusive state’s recent nuclear test, the government said on Thursday.
NUCLEAR NONPROLIFERATION
Yukiya Amano Unanimously Re-elected UN Nuclear Agency Chief
RTT News – March 7, 2013
Amano was re-elected “by acclamation” at the IAEA Board of Governors’ first meeting of the year at the Agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Board Chairman John Barrett said in a statement on Wednesday.
OPINION AND ANALYSIS
North Korea’s Kim Jong-un to ride out sanctions in nuclear push
Christine Kim, Reuters – March 7, 2013
Fresh U.N. sanctions are unlikely to halt North Korea’s nuclear program given that seven years of previous measures from the world body and more than 50 years of U.S. penalties have failed to dissuade North Korea from trying to develop banned weapons.
Obama’s Nuclear Future
Joseph Cirincione, Foreign Affairs – March 6, 2013
After making steady progress on nuclear weapons in the first two years of his presidency, Obama stalled after Republicans waged a fierce battle against ratifying the New START treaty. Recent speeches — and Obama’s picks for secretary of state and secretary of defense — indicate that he is ready to resume the fight.
