TOP NEWS Hours after agreeing to resume talks, North Korea launches missile New York Times Iran to cut nuclear deal commitments until it reaches ‘desired result’: Supreme Leader Reuters China’s massive military parade shows Beijing is a missile superpower National Interest United States Allies must press U.S. to keep New START: U.S. experts Breaking Defense10/1/19 “New START matters to our security, to the security of the alliance, to the cohesion of the (NATO) alliance,” said Tom Countryman, former assistant secretary of State for international security and nonproliferation. U.S. Supreme Court scheduled to consider S.C. plutonium appeal Aiken Standard10/1/19 The U.S. Supreme Court later this month will consider hearing a case tied directly to the death of the Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication Facility at the Savannah River Site and the related long-term storage of plutonium in South Carolina. Middle East Iran supports European plan to bolster nuclear deal Associated Press10/2/19 President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday that Iran supports a plan by European countries to bolster a nuclear deal that Tehran reached with the West in 2015 and from which the United States withdrew last year. Iran to cut nuclear deal commitments until it reaches ‘desired result’: Supreme Leader Reuters10/2/19 Iran will continue reducing its commitments under its 2015 nuclear deal until it reaches the “desired result,” Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Wednesday, according to his official website. East Asia Hours after agreeing to resume talks, North Korea launches missile New York Times10/1/19 North Korea launched at least one ballistic missile toward waters near Japan early Wednesday, just hours after announcing it had agreed to resume long-stalled talks with the United States over its nuclear weapons program. Explainer: North Korea’s suspected submarine missile ‘pushes the envelope’ ReutersJack Kim 10/2/19 The exact type of the missile and the launch platform remain unclear, but it appears to be a step that “pushes the envelope,” said Joshua Pollack, a leading expert on nuclear and missile proliferation and editor of Nonproliferation Review. Russia Russia vows to take compensatory measures, if intermediate-range missiles appear in Europe TASS9/30/19 The deployment of intermediate-and shorter-range missiles in Central and Western Europe will radically change security conditions for Russia and will force Moscow to take compensatory measures, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in an interview with the journal International Affairs on Monday. Analysis/Commentary China’s massive military parade shows Beijing is a missile superpower National InterestAndrew S. Erickson 10/1/19 Washington is right to leave a missile-limiting treaty that Beijing won’t even consider joining. Did China’s missiles kill the INF treaty with Russia? The experts don’t agree. National InterestDavid Axe 10/2/19 China’s lead over the United States in the field of super-fast missiles is one reason why Washington was wise to withdraw from a key arms-control treaty, one American expert argued. Others don’t agree. Why America’s B-61-12 nuclear bomb is tempting to use during a war National InterestZachary Keck 10/2/19 The bomb is both incredibly accurate and can be adjusted to cause a very small explosion. Climbing the escalation ladder: India and the Balakot crisis War on the RocksRohan Mukherjee 10/2/19 Has Balakot created a new normal, one that increases the risks of war—nuclear or conventional—on the subcontinent?