Top News: Israel tells U.S. it has serious reservations about Iran nuclear deal Reuters U.S. officials double down on push for nuclear modernization AP News U.S., France warn Iran time running out to revive nuclear deal Al Jazeera United States U.S. officials double down on push for nuclear modernization AP News6/25/2021 A top U.S. nuclear security official and the leaders of three key national laboratories doubled down Friday on the push to modernize the country’s nuclear arsenal and the science and technology that back it up. U.S., France warn Iran time running out to revive nuclear deal Al Jazeera6/25/2021 The United States and France have warned Iran that time is running out to return to a nuclear deal, voicing fears that Tehran’s sensitive atomic activities could advance if talks drag on. East Asia China and Russia agree to boost nuclear cooperation CGTN6/28/2021 Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin gave the green-light to begin construction on four nuclear reactors in China in May. It’s been called a joint project in the peaceful usage of atomic energy. INTERVIEW: Former top nuclear negotiator says U.S., DPRK preparing for ‘hardball’ NK NewsJeongmin Kim 6/28/2021 Kim Sook, who led South Korea delegation at Six-Party Talks, says North Korea “inflexible” and “stubborn” in talks. Middle East Iran says no decision has been made yet on IAEA monitoring deal Reuters6/28/2021 Iran said on Monday it has yet to decide whether to extend a monitoring deal with the U.N. nuclear watchdog which lapsed last week, amid Washington’s warning that Tehran’s failure to renew it would complicate talks to revive its 2015 nuclear accord. Hardening stances by Iran and U.S. complicate negotiations to revive nuclear deal The Washington Post6/27/2021 Iran’s parliament speaker said Sunday that Tehran would never share with the U.N. nuclear watchdog recorded footage of activity at some of its nuclear sites, in a sign of the hardening rhetoric by both Iran and the United States during the prolonged and increasingly tense negotiations aimed at reviving a 2015 nuclear accord. Iran refuses to give nuclear site images to IAEA Reuters6/27/2021 The speaker of Iran’s parliament said on Sunday Tehran will never hand over images from inside of some Iranian nuclear sites to the U.N. nuclear watchdog as a monitoring agreement with the agency had expired, Iranian state media reported. Israel tells U.S. it has serious reservations about Iran nuclear deal Reuters6/27/2021 Israel has serious reservations about the Iran nuclear deal being put together in Vienna, new foreign minister Yair Lapid told his American counterpart, as he pledged to fix “the mistakes made” in U.S.-Israeli relations in recent years. South Asia OPINION: Nuclear force: Why India needs to increase its nuclear stockpile Financial Express6/28/2021 In the case of a nuclear strike, India’s leadership should focus on a comprehensive counter-offensive strategy aimed at removing an adversary’s ability to cause further harm to Indian interests. For this strategy to be successful India needs to drastically increase its stockpile of nuclear weapons so that it dwarfs the combined nuclear stockpile of both China and Pakistan. India successfully test-fires surface-to-surface nuclear-capable Agni Prime missile with a range of up to 2000 kilometers Business Insider6/28/2021 India on Monday successfully test-fired its new generation nuclear-capable Agni Prime missile from a defense base off Odisha coast, DRDO sources said. The surface-to-surface ballistic missile has a range of 1000 to 2000 km, it said.