Nuclear Policy News – January 15, 2020

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TOP NEWS

U.S. slaps two North Korean entities with sanctions over workers
Al Jazeera

Iran’s Zarif says nuclear pact not dead, wary of ‘Trump deal’
Reuters

OPINION: European powers should renew effort to bring the United States and Iran back into compliance with 2015 nuclear deal
Arms Control Association

United States

JASONs endorse fast start to new pit complex
Exchange Monitor1/14/20
The JASON group of scientists has endorsed a plan for the U.S. Department of Energy to immediately begin building new infrastructure to produce fresh nuclear-weapon cores, according to a letter written by the group’s program manager and published Monday by the Federation of American Scientists.

East Asia

U.S. slaps two North Korean entities with sanctions over workers
Al Jazeera1/14/20
The U.S. Treasury Department announced the sanctions on the Korea Namgang Trading Corp and China-based North Korean lodging facility Beijing Sukbakso. The move could complicate efforts to revive stalled talks aimed at persuading North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons.

Moon says US election poses threat to North Korean nuclear talks
Financial Times1/14/20
Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s president, has warned that November’s U.S. presidential election threatens to limit what progress can be made on nuclear talks between Washington and North Korea.

Middle East

Iran’s Zarif says nuclear pact not dead, wary of ‘Trump deal’
Reuters1/15/20
Iran’s foreign minister said on Wednesday an existing nuclear deal the country struck with world powers was not dead and that he was unsure if any new pact agreed by U.S. President Donald Trump would last.

OPINION: European powers should renew effort to bring the United States and Iran back into compliance with 2015 nuclear deal
Arms Control AssociationKelsey Davenport
1/14/20
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom announced Tuesday that they are triggering the dispute resolution mechanism in the 2015 nuclear deal to respond to Iran’s breaches of key nuclear limits. The three European governments should redouble their efforts to restore full implementation of the nuclear deal by all parties and to prevent the collapse of this effective nonproliferation agreement.

OPINION: Trump is still pushing for a new nuclear deal with Iran. How likely is that?
Washington PostNicholas Miller
1/15/20
Though Iran has long maintained that it will enter negotiations only if sanctions are lifted first, Trump reiterated that sanctions would stay in place “until Iran changes its behavior.”

Russia and Europe

Russia sees no grounds to trigger Iran nuclear deal dispute mechanism: TASS
Reuters1/14/20
Russia sees no grounds to trigger the dispute mechanism in Iran’s 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, TASS news agency reported on Tuesday, citing Russia’s Foreign Ministry.

OPINION: Could Russia and China ever work together to build nuclear-powered aircraft carriers?
National InterestDavid Axe
1/14/20
Moscow and Beijing may be closer than in previous years, but that doesn’t mean the political will and money exists to co-build nuclear-powered carriers.

Hypersonic Missiles

Russia’s hypersonic missiles are not ‘game changing,’ says U.S. Army Chief of Staff
Yahoo News1/14/20
The U.S. Army’s top officer said Tuesday during an appearance in Washington, D.C., that he isn’t worried by Russia’s growing arsenal of hypersonic missiles.

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