IRAN
Iran Nuclear Sabotage Suspected After Reports of Blasts at Atomic Centers
Ladane Nasseri, Bloomberg – November 29, 2011
Reports of a blast in the province of Isfahan, home to one of Iran’s atomic facilities, adds to a series of unexplained incidents that have raised suspicions of sabotage against the country’s nuclear program.
Analysis: For Iran, the sanctions price may be worth paying
Fredrik Dahl, Reuters – November 29, 2011
Iran regards its nuclear programme as a source of power and prestige and tougher sanctions look unlikely to alter Tehran’s cost-benefit analysis much despite the economic pain they cause.
The Real Lesson of Iraq
Malrid Braut-Hegghammer, NYT (Op-Ed) – November 28, 2011
Parallels between Iraq’s former nuclear weapons program and the Iranian nuclear program have shaped policy debates for nearly a decade. We are still paying the costs of failing in Iraq. Israel now seems determined to make similar mistakes in Iran.
NORTH & SOUTH KOREA
Blix: NK Not a Topic at Seoul Nuclear Summit
Evan Ramstad, WSJ – November 29, 2011
Hans Blix, the Swedish lawyer and nuclear specialist who led the International Atomic Energy Agency in the 1990s and the U.N. nuclear verification commission a decade ago, was in Seoul Tuesday to meet President Lee Myung-bak and help define the agenda for the 47-nation Nuclear Security Summit to be hosted in Seoul in March.
Myanmar Sought Nuke Aid From North Korea, Lugar Asserts
Global Security Newswire – November 28, 2011
A prominent U.S. senator said there is reason to believe Myanmar sought to work with North Korea in recent years to build nuclear weapons, the Washington Post reported on Thursday
ISRAEL
Israel retaliates following rocket attack from within Lebanon
Edmund Sanders, LA Times – November 29, 2011
Recent calm along the Israel-Lebanon border broke early Tuesday after unknown assailants in southern Lebanon fired four rockets into northern Israel, the first such attack since 2009. Israel immediately retaliated with a volley of artillery strikes targeting the source of the rocket fire, near the Lebanese village of Eid Tashaad.
PAKISTAN
Pakistan to boycott meeting over deadly NATO raid
Asif Shahzad, AP – November 29, 2011
Pakistan pulled out of an upcoming meeting in Germany on the future of Afghanistan to protest the deadly attack by U.S.-led forces on its troops, widening the fallout on Tuesday from an incident that has sent ties between Washington and Islamabad into a tailspin.
Former FM Says Pakistani Nuclear Weapons Vulnerable
Global Security Newswire – November 28, 2011
Former Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi warned that the nation’s nuclear arsenal cannot be considered secured under the current government, the Press Trust of India reported on Monday
Should we allow Nato free range to attack and kill people?
Pratap Chatterjee, The Guardian – November 29, 2011
The airstrike that killed 24 Pakistani soldiers is just the latest in a series of mistakes that raise doubts about Nato’s credibility
RUSSIA
Russia activates missile warning system near EU
Stuart Williams, AFP – November 29, 2011
Russia on Tuesday activated a radar warning system against incoming missiles in its exclave of Kaliningrad on the borders of the EU, in response to Western plans for a US missile shield in Europe
The U.S.-Russian Reset in Recess
Dmitri Trenin, NYT (Op-Ed) – November 29, 2011
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev’s warning last week of measures Russia will take if the United States and NATO continue with their missile-defense program in Europe, while sounding tough, is not the end of the U.S.-Russian reset. It is more of a pre-election recess of Russian-American diplomacy.
