Nuclear Policy News – March 24, 2021

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Top News:

Iran must come clean about hidden uranium to revive nuclear deal, IAEA chief warns
Newsweek

White House: North Korea conducted short-range missile test
Associated Press

LETTER: HASC Republicans urge President Biden to support nuclear triad
House Armed Services Committee

United States

Admiral nominated to lead Indo-Pacific forces contradicts current commander on Chinese nuclear stockpile
Stars and Stripes3/23/21
Adm. John Aquilino, the nominee to be the next commander of American forces in the Pacific, said Tuesday that even if China were to quadruple its nuclear stockpile within the next decade, the United States would still have more warheads deployed than Beijing.

LETTER: HASC Republicans urge President Biden to support nuclear triad
House Armed Services Committee3/23/21
House Armed Services Committee Subcommittee on Strategic Forces Ranking Member Michael Turner and HASC Ranking Member Mike Rogers led HASC Republicans in a letter to President Joe Biden urging the Administration to support modernization of the U.S. nuclear deterrent and homeland missile defense in the FY22 budget.

East Asia

White House: North Korea conducted short-range missile test
Associated Press3/24/21
North Korea fired short-range missiles this past weekend, just days after the sister of Kim Jong Un threatened the United States and South Korea for holding joint military exercises.

North Korea fires short-range missiles in challenge to Biden administration
Washington Post3/23/21
North Korea fired off multiple short-range missiles this past weekend after denouncing Washington for going forward with joint military exercises with South Korea, according to people familiar with the situation.

ANALYSIS: How Kim Jong Un keeps advancing his nuclear program
BloombergJon Herskovitz
3/24/21
Despite an unprecedented series of meetings between then-U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, negotiations over eliminating the latter’s nuclear arsenal have stalled.

Middle East

Iran must come clean about hidden uranium to revive nuclear deal, IAEA chief warns
Newsweek3/23/21
In an interview, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Rafael Grossi said “detailed and technical discussions” are needed to ascertain the location of Iran’s undeclared uranium and that this issue is “totally connected” to the future of the deal.

Joe Biden risks missing Iran nuclear window as Tehran election looms
Newsweek3/24/21
Reviving the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action with Iran is supposed to be one of President Joe Biden’s landmark foreign policy achievements.

Jailing of French tourist complicates bid to resolve Iran nuclear deal
Voice of America3/23/21
Benjamin Briere is a French tourist who was arrested last May while visiting Iran with his drone and minivan. Still detained, he was charged with espionage and “spreading propaganda against the system.” His lawyers deny the charges.

ANALYSIS: Biden must act quickly to salvage Iran nuclear deal
ASPIShlomo Ben-Ami
3/24/21
Former US president Donald Trump’s ‘maximum pressure’ campaign against Iran utterly failed to enhance regional or global security. His successor, Joe Biden, must not make the same mistake.

Russia and Europe

3 Russian bomber pilots killed by ejection system glitch
Associated Press3/23/21
Three members of a Russian bomber’s air crew died Tuesday when their ejection seats accidentally activated during preflight checks, the military said.

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