TOP NEWS Iran Will ‘Never’ Make An Atomic Bomb But It ‘Has The Formula,’ Top Official Says Newsweek2/12/19 U.S. Senate Proposal Would Block Saudi Path to Atomic Weapon In Nuclear Deal Reuters US Should Update Nuclear Warheads Over Their Delivery Systems, Says Dod Official DefenseNews Middle East Report to Congress on Iran’s Nuclear Program U.S. Naval Institute News2/12/2019 This Congressional Research Service report provides a brief overview of Iran’s nuclear program and describes the legal basis for the actions taken by the IAEA board and the Security Council. It will be updated as events warrant. Iran Will ‘Never’ Make An Atomic Bomb But It ‘Has The Formula,’ Top Official Says Newsweek2/12/19 “Iran has the formula to make the atomic bomb, but what we are loyal to is the fatwa [religious edict] issued by the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei,” he said, pointing out that nuclear bombs are “clearly” against Shariah. Citing a hadith, a statement credited to Islam’s Prophet Muhammad, Khatami said it was forbidden to use weapons of mass destruction of any kind. Warsaw Summit: Why Iran Is the Elephant in The Room BBC News2/12/2019 Indeed it became clear that putting the spotlight solely on Iran might simply highlight the divisions in the Western camp in the wake of the Trump administration’s decision to pull out of the nuclear agreement – the JCPOA – with Tehran. East Asia How China Is Getting Ready for a Nuclear War National Interest2/12/2019 The People’s Liberation Army Rocket Force, or PLARF, is getting new and better missiles with better multiple-independent-reentry-vehicle warheads, or MIRVs, according to a January 2019 report from the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency. U.S. Commander Says North Korea Unlikely To Give Up All Nuclear Weapons Reuters2/12/2019 Weeks before a second summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the top U.S. military commander for Asia on Tuesday echoed an intelligence assessment that North Korea is unlikely to give up all its nuclear weapons. U.S. Envoy: North Korea Dialogue ‘Productive’ But Sanctions Must Stay UPI2/12/2019 The U.S. diplomat also called for progress on inter-Korea relations to take place within the framework of sanctions; the United States has said economic embargoes must stay in place until final, fully verified denuclearization is achieved. Russia/FSU/Europe NATO Chief Claims Alliance Preparing Defensive Measures For ‘INF-Free World’ TASS Russian News2/12/2019 NATO is planning defensive measures in a world without the INF Treaty but does not intend to deploy new missiles in Europe, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said U.S. Nuclear Policy US Should Update Nuclear Warheads Over Their Delivery Systems, Says Dod Official DefenseNews2/12/2019 Top nuclear official at the U.S. Defense Department warned Tuesday that the future of the nuclear arsenal has to come from innovations in the warheads, rather than the Pentagon’s traditional focus on delivery systems. U.S. Senate Proposal Would Block Saudi Path to Atomic Weapon In Nuclear Deal Reuters2/12/2019 U.S. senators from both parties introduced a resolution on Tuesday requiring that any deal to share U.S. nuclear power technology with Saudi Arabia block the kingdom from making a nuclear weapon. Opinion and Analysis The Next U.S. President Should Rejoin the Iran Nuclear Deal Foreign Policy2/12/2019 To the surprise of many analysts (us included), Iran has continued to abide by the 2015 nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, despite the Trump administration’s decision last year to withdraw from it and reimpose U.S. sanctions. What Ronald Reagan Would Tell President Trump About Arms Control Washington Post – Victoria Nuland2/12/2019 The Trump administration’s decision to withdraw from the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty after a decade of Russian violations feels satisfying and fair — they cheat, we stop playing. But is this our best option? Special Interest Podcast: The Aftermath of the INF Treaty with Lori Esposito Murray Council on Foreign Relations from the President’s Inbox2/11/2019 Lori Esposito Murray, adjunct senior fellow at CFR, discusses President Donald J. Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, and the future of international nuclear competition, with James M. Lindsay.