Top News: ANALYSIS: Russia and U.S. discuss strategic stability IISS U.N. chief urges U.S. to remove Iran sanctions as agreed in 2015 Reuters Groups sue Biden admin over planned expansion of nuke work The Washington Post United States U.N. chief urges U.S. to remove Iran sanctions as agreed in 2015 Reuters6/30/2021 U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appealed to U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration to lift or waive all sanctions on Iran as agreed under a 2015 deal aimed at stopping Tehran from developing a nuclear weapon. Groups sue Biden admin over planned expansion of nuke work The Washington Post6/29/2021 Watchdog groups sued the Biden administration Tuesday over its plans to produce plutonium cores for the U.S. nuclear stockpile, arguing federal agencies have failed to conduct a detailed environmental review of potential impacts around installations in New Mexico and South Carolina. Biden tells Israel president he won’t tolerate nuclear Iran Associated Press6/28/2021 President Joe Biden sought to assure Israel that he would not tolerate a nuclear Iran as he met with outgoing Israeli President Reuven Rivlin on Monday amid a major shakeup in Israeli politics and growing angst in Tel Aviv over the U.S. administration’s effort to reenter the Iran nuclear deal. East Asia North Korea moves to significantly reorganize command structure of the Strategic Force Daily NK6/30/2021 During a recent enlarged meeting of the Central Military Commission, North Korea’s leadership decided to significantly reorganize the command structure of the Strategic Force, which operates the nation’s arsenal of ballistic missiles. Middle East Iran’s Khamenei must make decision on revival of JCPOA, Blinken says Iran International6/30/2021 In an interview with Italy’s state-owned TV Channel Rai 1 Tuesday, The U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said overcoming some “very significant differences” in the Vienna talks to revive the 2015 nuclear deal mostly depends on Iran’s Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei. ANALYSIS: Biden’s billion-dollar question: Does Iran still want a deal? HaaretzAlon Pinkas 6/29/2021 Following the Islamic Republic’s recent election and ahead of a new round of nuclear talks, some in the administration are asking whether Tehran really wants an agreement or is happy with brinkmanship and stalling. ANALYSIS: What is the Iran Nuclear Deal? Council on Foreign RelationsKali Robinson 6/29/2021 The fate of the arms control agreement is in doubt following the United States’ withdrawal and Iran’s noncompliance, but newly elected leaders in both countries in 2021 have signaled a willingness to mend the deal. OPINION: Will Israel accept ‘half a loaf’ on Iran’s nuclear program? The HillEric R. Mandel 6/29/2021 What should Israel do? Will Bennett play hardball like former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and take a confrontational approach, or will Bennett decide that a conciliatory strategy is better? Will he and the Israeli security cabinet accept a wish list of hoped-for military presents from the Biden administration in exchange for not lobbying against the deal? South Asia ANALYSIS: Nuclear theft: A challenging facet for South Asia Pakistan Observer6/30/2021 States competed for nuclear weapons while making the intentions assure that these weapons do not plunge into suspected hands. But the recent incident of illegal possession of uranium by unauthorized persons in India provoked high-security concern in South Asia. Russia ANALYSIS: Russia and U.S. discuss strategic stability IISSNiklas Ebert 6/30/21 Strategic stability was high on the agenda when United States President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin met in Geneva on 16 June, marking their first in-person encounter since Biden’s inauguration in January.