Nuclear Policy News – February 5, 2020

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Top News

U.S. military deploys new type of nuclear weapon seen as key to countering Russia
CNN

Trump: ‘Perhaps’ Iranian leaders ‘too proud or too foolish’ to negotiate with U.S.
The Hill

ANALYSIS: North Korea’s next submarine may make nuclear talks even harder
Bloomberg

 

United States

Trump: ‘Perhaps’ Iranian leaders ‘too proud or too foolish’ to negotiate with U.S.
The Hill2/4/20
President Trump on Tuesday questioned whether Iranian leaders are “too proud or too foolish” to negotiate with the United States for sanctions relief, saying it is up to them to come to the table.

U.S. military deploys new type of nuclear weapon seen as key to countering Russia
CNN2/4/20
The U.S. military deployed a new submarine-launched low-yield nuclear weapon, something the Pentagon sees as critical to countering the threat posed by Russia’s arsenal of smaller tactical nukes.

ANALYSIS: Setting the record straight on hypersonic weapons
Union of Concerned ScientistsCameron Tracy
2/3/20
Recent reports would have you believe that hypersonic weapons—an emerging class of low-altitude, high-speed missiles—are poised to revolutionize modern military strategy.

East Asia

ANALYSIS: North Korea’s next submarine may make nuclear talks even harder
BloombergJon Herskovitz, Adrian Leung
2/4/20
Recent North Korean reports touting a new submarine and its test of a ballistic missile designed to be launched from one have fueled speculation that a sub may be the “new strategic weapon” Kim promised to unveil this year.

Middle East

Iran’s president says Tehran ready to work with E.U. to resolve nuclear deal issues
Reuters2/3/20
Iran is ready to cooperate with the European Union on issues related to the nuclear deal it agreed with world powers in 2015, President Hassan Rouhani was quoted as saying on Monday by the ISNA news service.

Iran upholds death sentence for man accused of giving nuclear secrets to CIA
NPR2/4/20
Iran’s Supreme Court has affirmed a death sentence for a man accused of giving secrets about the country’s nuclear program to the CIA, a government spokesman announced Tuesday.

Russia/Europe

Kazatomprom to sell its interest in Russian enrichment company
NEI Magazine2/4/20
Kazakh uranium producer Kazatomprom has agreed to sell its 50% interest (retaining only one share) in the Russia-based Uranium Enrichment Centre (UEC) to joint venture partner Russian fuel company TVEL for RUB6.253 billion ($100 million).

South Asia

New weapons purchases suffer under India’s latest defense budget
Defense One2/4/20
India’s defense budget for 2020-2021 will be $73.65 billion, the country government announced Saturday, but officials and analysts are warning the amount is unlikely to meet new demands for weapons purchases and military modernization, as India is set to spend about 90 percent if its defense funds on existing obligations.

Multilateral Arms Control

ANALYSIS: Russia killed arms control. Why does it want to keep New START?
Bulletin of the Atomic ScientistsKristin Ven Bruusgaard
2/5/20
Russia is a key protagonist in the tale of the demise of the Cold War arms control architecture. It seems a little strange, then, that Moscow now seems so keen to salvage New START, the final remaining bilateral arms control treaty between the world’s two nuclear superpowers.

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