Nuclear Policy News – May 14, 2018

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TOP NEWS

North Korea details plans to dismantle nuclear test site this month
CNN

Moon shines as he drives diplomacy with North Korea
Washington Post

Washington’s Strict New Policy on Iran Could Test Ties With Allies
Wall Street Journal

He Was a Tireless Critic of the Iran Deal. Now He Insists He Wanted to Save It.
New York Times

EAST ASIA

Denuclearization Means Different Things to Kim and Trump, North Korean Defector Says
Wall Street Journal5/14/18
Pyongyang is unlikely to agree to Washington’s demand of ‘complete, verifiable, irreversible denuclearization’.

Behind Trump’s Diverging Attitudes on North Korea and Iran
Wall Street Journal5/14/18
Obviously, Mr. Trump sees the Iran nuclear deal as fatally flawed and presumes he can get a better one with North Korea. But beyond that, he is trying to encourage what he sees as a potentially significant change in attitude from North Korea.

Pompeo and Bolton outline North Korea plans as talks approach
CNN5/13/18
Bolton said the United States is pursuing a standard of “complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization” heading into negotiations.

North Korea details plans to dismantle nuclear test site this month
CNN5/12/18
North Korea outlined steps Saturday to dismantle its nuclear testing site — and confirmed that international journalists, including those from the United States and the United Kingdom, would be invited to watch this month as its tunnels are blown up.

On U.S.-North Korea Talks, China May Hold the Cards
New York Times5/11/18
Along the Chinese border with North Korea, the evidence of Beijing’s leverage in the coming talks between President Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, is everywhere.

Pompeo Says North Korea Could Prosper If It Makes a Nuclear Deal
Bloomberg5/11/18
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dangled the prospect of a far brighter future for North Korea if leader Kim Jong Un abandons his nation’s nuclear weapons program after a summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore next month.

Moon shines as he drives diplomacy with North Korea
Washington Post5/12/18
It’s hard to ignore Moon’s role as the architect behind a new global push to settle the nuclear standoff with the North.

MIDDLE EAST

Iran Rallies Against U.S. and Warns Europe Over Endangered Nuclear Deal
New York Times5/11/18
Iran’s hard-line authorities organized nationwide rallies on Friday to denounce the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear agreement, burning American flags and warning that Europe might further sabotage the accord.

Trump: Iran’s military budget proves nuclear deal was ‘a big lie’
The Hill5/12/18
President Trump held up Iran’s large military budget on Saturday as evidence that Tehran’s commitment to a deal curbing its nuclear pursuits “was all a big lie.”

Oil prices fall as Iran nuclear deal retains support
Reuters5/10/18
Crude prices fell in a see-saw session on Friday, retreating after early gains as it looked likely that U.S. allies would push to maintain a deal with Iran, which could keep that country’s crude exports on global markets.

Washington’s Strict New Policy on Iran Could Test Ties With Allies
Wall Street Journal5/13/18
Sanctions relief for Tehran drew European powers and China—and they aren’t eager to reverse course and bend to Trump’s agenda

The Latest: White House condemns Iran’s ‘reckless actions’
Washington Post5/11/18
The Latest on fallout from U.S. withdrawal from Iran nuclear deal.

Iran foreign minister sets off on tour to save nuclear deal
Reuters5/12/18
Iran’s foreign minister embarks on a tour of world powers on Saturday, state media reported, in what is seen as a last-ditch effort to save Tehran’s nuclear deal after Washington’s withdrawal from the accord.

Trump frees some jailed Americans overseas — but endangers others
Politico5/11/18
Even as the president celebrated the release of three U.S. citizens from North Korea, the relative of two more detained in Tehran said he was ‘crushed’ amid spiking hostility with Iran.

His nuclear deal and economy are crumbling, but don’t write off Iran’s president yet
Washington Post5/11/18
Even as he faces the most serious challenge yet to his presidency, Hassan Rouhani has forged ahead with efforts to save the accord and, by extension, his own credibility.

Trump Criticizes Schumer, Other Democrats For Stance On Iran Nuclear Deal
CBS5/11/18
President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the Iran nuclear deal this week. Now, he’s very critical of some Democrats who didn’t want to get into the deal in the first place but now say they don’t want to get out.

Without Nuclear Deal, U.S. Expects Resurgence in Iranian Cyberattacks
New York Times5/11/18
Government and private-sector cybersecurity experts in the United States and Israel worry that President Trump’s decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal this week will lead to a surge in retaliatory cyberattacks from Iran.

RUSSIA/FSU/EUROPE

Europe Steps Up Bid to Salvage Iran Nuclear Deal
Bloomberg5/14/18
European powers alarmed by Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear accord set out this week on an urgent search for ways to hold the deal together and avoid a further escalation of violence in the Middle East.

U.S. Ready to Impose Sanctions on European Companies in Iran, Bolton Says
Wall Street Journal5/13/18
Trump administration is seeking new deal with tougher restrictions on Tehran’s nuclear activities

U.S. NUCLEAR POLICY

Top State Department Nuclear Expert Announces Resignation After Trump Iran Deal Exit
Foreign Policy5/11/18
Officials warn of brain drain across government offices.

Inside the mountain base still on alert to North Korea’s missile threat
CNN5/11/18
A lot has changed on the Korean peninsula in just matter of months — threats of fire and fury have been replaced with handshakes and optimism — but for the military organization that monitors threats to North America, it might as well be 2017 when it comes to North Korea.

‘This Is Not a Drill’: The Growing Threat of Nuclear Annihilation
New York Times5/13/18
As more nations seek the bomb, and as the United States and Russia expand their nuclear arsenals, veterans of the Cold War say the public is too complacent about the risk of nuclear catastrophe.

He Was a Tireless Critic of the Iran Deal. Now He Insists He Wanted to Save It.
New York Times5/13/18
While many hands gripped the sword that undercut the Iran nuclear deal, no one outside the Trump administration was a more persistent or effective critic than Mark Dubowitz, the chief executive of a hawkish Washington think tank.

As U.S. Demands Nuclear Disarmament, It Moves to Expand Its Own Arsenal
New York Times5/14/18
For the American arsenal, the initiatives are all going in the opposite direction, with a series of little-noticed announcements to spend billions of dollars building the factories needed to rejuvenate and expand America’s nuclear capacity.

Perry Halts Nuclear Arms-Into-Fuel Project
VOA5/13/18
Energy Secretary Rick Perry has formally ended construction of a facility meant to reprocess weapons-grade plutonium and uranium into fuel for reactors, a key element of the nation’s commitment to containing the global nuclear threat.

OPINION AND ANALYSIS

Post-Iran deal, the US needs a plan to keep nuclear weapons from spreading
Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsMartin Rioux-Lefebvre and Ariane Tabatabai
5/11/18
The Trump administration needs to have a coherent nonproliferation policy, to reiterate its commitment to the NPT, and to strengthen its supporting institutions, particularly the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Did Korea progress strike final blow to Iran nuclear deal?
ReutersMaysam Behravesh
5/11/18
In an ironic twist, President Donald Trump’s diplomatic progress in North Korea may have played a major role in his decision to withdraw from the Iran nuclear agreement.

Only Trump can save the world from North Korea and Iran
The HillRobert Monroe
5/11/18
In coming months President Trump faces two major decisions that will shape our world’s future.

With Demise of Nuclear Deal, Iran’s Foes See an Opportunity. Others See Risk of War.
New York Times5/13/18
But as frustrated as Mr. Trump and his allies were that the Iran nuclear agreement did not curb what they regard as regional troublemaking by Iran, it is far from clear that vacating the deal will either.

Security Brief: Unclear U.S. Demands on North Korea; Iran Deal Fall Out
Foreign Policy5/14/18
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo provides security guarantees to Pyongyang but struggles to articulate American demands.

Trump Broke Iran Policy. Let Him Fix It.
Foreign PolicyDennis Ross
5/11/18
The U.S. president has blown up the Obama-era approach to Iran he has been mocking for years. Now it’s on him to clean up the mess.

We have no Iran policy
Washington PostJennifer Rubin
5/13/18
We had no Iran policy on non-nuclear items when the JCPOA was in place and — no surprise — we still do not.

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