IRAN
‘Time is not unlimited’ on Iran, Obama to tell U.N.
David Ariosto, CNN – September 25, 2012
The United States will “do what we must” to prevent Iran from developing a nuclear weapon, President Barack Obama is expected to tell the United Nations General Assembly Tuesday in a speech that will also touch heavily on the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens in Libya.
Breakfast with Ahmadinejad
Susan B. Glasser, Foreign Policy – September 24, 2012
Since Republican candidate Mitt Romney has been outspoken in declaring he would support Israeli military action against Iranian nuclear facilities, asked CNN correspondent Erin Burnett, did that mean Ahmadinejad would be supporting President Barack Obama’s re-election? No, he replied through an interpreter, “We do believe that the U.S. elections are a domestic issue and we will not get in the middle of that at all.” Then he cracked a smile before adding, “I believe the people of the U.S. are not a war-seeking people.”
Senate Passes Measure Rejecting Containment Of A ‘Nuclear Weapons Capable’ Iran
Ben Armbruster, ThinkProgress – September 22, 2012
The Senate passed a resolution early on Saturday by a vote of 90-1 “joining” President Obama in rejecting any policy that would seek to contain Iran “as an option in response to the Iranian nuclear threat.” However the non-binding measure — which all but two Democrats voted for — breaks significantly with the president’s policy on containment’s threshold.
DISARMAMENT
Nuclear Disarmament Disarmed
Gareth Evans, Project Syndicate – September 25, 2012
US President Barack Obama’s foreign-policy landscape is littered with deflated balloons. Soaring speeches, high hopes, and great expectations have yielded minimal returns. Across the Islamic world – from North Africa to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan – we see fragile relationships, unhappy transitions, unresolved conflicts, and outright attacks on the United States, despite Obama’s case for a new beginning, movingly articulated in his June 2009 speech in Cairo. Israel, deaf to Obama’s urging, is further from reconciliation with Palestine, and closer to war with Iran, than it has ever been.
RUSSIA
Russian Military Dumps Unified Nuclear Command Plan
RIA Novosti – September 24, 2012
Russia’s Defense Ministry has abandoned plans to set up a unified command structure for the country’s nuclear triad, the newspaper Izvestia reported on Monday. As a result, each major branch of the Armed Forces – the Strategic Missile Forces (SMF), the Air Force and the Navy – will retain control over its own triad component, Izvestia said, citing an unidentified source in the ministry.
NORTH KOREA
AP Exclusive: Images show NKorea launch pad halt
CNBC – September 25, 2012
North Korea has stopped construction on a launch pad where intercontinental-range rockets could be tested, an interruption possibly due to heavy rains and that could stall completion up to two years, according to an analysis of new satellite imagery. Despite the setback, however, Pyongyang is also refurbishing for possible future use another existing pad at the same complex that has been used for past rocket launches, according to the analysis of Aug. 29 images provided to The Associated Press by 38 North, the website of the U.S.-Korea Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.
MISSILE DEFENSE
Poland Eyes $4 Bln Missile Modernization Program
RIA Novosti – September 24, 2012
Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski has submitted a defense bill to parliament designed to initiate the comprehensive modernization of the country’s missile defense system, the presidential staff said on Monday. This bill is key to ensuring stable funding for the modernization program, which has been described as “the highest priority for the Polish Armed Forces in the coming decade.”
SOUTH ASIA
Pak developing non-strategic nuclear weapons
Hindustan Times – September 25, 2012
To enhance its nuclear capability, Pakistan is developing non-strategic nuclear weapons, and thus joining the ranks of countries like the US and Russia, a leading American think-tank has said. India, however, not listed among five of the nine-nuclear weapons powered countries that has or is developing non-strategic nuclear weapons said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project, and Dr Robert S Norris, senior fellow for Nuclear Policy, in a new edition of Nuclear Notebook.
