NORTH KOREA
Russia, China Consider Options for Restarting Nuclear Talks with North Korea
Global Security Newswire – October 23, 2013
Russian and Chinese leaders have reaffirmed a desire to resume six party talks with North Korea. Both countries also discussed their hopes for a denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula. The last round of six-party talks took place in December 2008; attempts have been made to schedule new rounds of talks, but these efforts have been hampered by provocations by North Korea and expulsion of international inspectors in spring 2009.
SYRIA
Syria Chemical-Equipment Destruction Proceeds amid Peace-Talks Friction
Global Security Newswire – October 22, 2013
The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons has announced that it has overseen the destruction of equipment at 14 facilities in Syria and has audited a total of 17 facilities. Eight of these sites have been audited since last Wednesday. A visit to one chemical weapons facility had to be canceled last week due to security risks. This progress report comes as diplomats are trying to organize peace talks between the Syrian government and rebel forces.
IRAN
U.S. needs to get real over Iran nuclear talks
Kelsey Davenport, CNN – October 21, 2013
Davenport argues that in order to produce a deal that will prevent a nuclear-armed Iran the US must get on the same page with regard to what it wants from Iran. Elected representatives must allow diplomats a chance to do their jobs in negotiating a deal with Iran. The U.S. should not accept a bad deal, but at the same leaders must be realistic about the possible outcomes of negotiations – continuing to push for zero enrichment, she argues, is not a realistic outcome
U.S., Israel differ over how to resolve Iran nuclear issue
Arshad Mohammed – October 23, 2013
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US Secretary of State John Kerry met Wednesday to discuss the Israeli-Palestinian peace process, but the conversation quickly changed to a discussion of Iran. Netanyahu reaffirmed his belief that Iran should not be allowed to have nuclear weapons capability and argued that Iran should not be allowed to enrich uranium. He also said that Iran’s nuclear program was the foremost security threat of the region.
NUCLEAR WEAPONS
AP Exclusive: Nuclear missile officers were twice caught leaving blast door open while napping
Associated Press – October 22, 2013
Air Force officers responsible for the safe keeping of nuclear launch keys have been caught leaving the blast door to their command post open while they slept on two separate occasions in the past year. The blast doors are intended to prevent unauthorized entry by intruders or terrorists and are supposed to be sealed if the officers are in ‘rest status.’ The two officers received administrative punishments earlier this year.
The U.S.-Vietnam Nuclear Deal
Victor Gilinsky & Henry Sokolski, National Review – October 22, 2013
The authors argue that the recently agreed upon U.S.-Vietnam Civil Nuclear Cooperation Agreement should be rejected by Congress. The reasoning is that the agreement does not contain limitations to the production of nuclear fuel for Vietnam – a point that Iran will most likely bring up in future negotiations. It also limits the demands that the U.S. can place upon South Korea in its upcoming civil nuclear cooperation agreement. The creation of a deal without nonproliferation controls risks setting a dangerous precedent for further agreements moving forward.
OTHER NEWS
Obama official Jofi Joseph fired over insulting tweets
BBC News – October 23, 2013
A White House official and member of the National Security Council’s nuclear non-proliferation team has been fired for posting insulting tweets. Jofi Joseph tweeted under the twitter name @NatSecWonk and targeted senior White House officials, members of Congress, former-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and countless others in Washington over a two year period.
UN nuclear agency says malware infected some computers
Reuters – October 22, 2013
The International Atomic Energy Agency has reported that malicious software has compromised the agency’s computers over the past few months. The agency said that no sensitive data on the network had been compromised, but it did not give any indication of the origin of the attack. The computers were located in publicly accessible areas of the agency’s Vienna International Center; some of the data from USB drives used on these computers is believed to have been compromised.
