The Pope’s Nuclear Pivot to Washington

Pope calls for nuclear disarmament - “When the pontiff speaks in Washington and New York this week, he will likely… declare that any possession of nuclear weapons is immoral. No one should have them, at any time, for any reason,” writes Joe Cirincione and Tom Collina of Ploughshares Fund for Defense One. “The church has abhorred the inhumanity of these weapons that indiscriminately target innocent civilians and would kill them in massive numbers. But—until now—it has recognized a need for states to have nuclear weapons to deter other countries from launching a nuclear attack on them.”

--Last week’s statement from the Holy See declared, “'The dubious strategic rationales for maintaining and even strengthening... bloated arsenals are morally problematic… Nuclear deterrence has become an end in itself, and risks compromising the non-proliferation regime and undermining real progress toward a nuclear-free world…' While Washington seems stuck in Cold War paradigms, the Vatican seems to have a more modern strategic analysis, pointing out that nuclear weapons do not address any of the real threats to nations and to humanity.” Read more here. http://bit.ly/1itD0Xq

The battle wages on - “The 60-day congressional review period has expired, and last week the State Department outlined its plan to put in place an accord that aims to prevent Iran from becoming nuclear-armed,” reports Deb Riechmann. “Congress is poised to start cranking out legislation to reinstate sanctions or shore up what some lawmakers say is an ill-fated pact with a state supporter of terrorist… [including] calls for shoring up oversight of Iran's compliance… [and reauthorizing] the Iran Sanctions Act.”

--“‘Although the congressional review period may be over, now the real work begins,’ Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said in a speech Thursday at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace… Looming above all this debate is whether the agreement will last when Obama's successor walks into the Oval Office in 16 months.” Get full story from Associated Press here. http://bit.ly/1V5aB6n

Tweet - @mmfa: International Atomic Energy Agency proves right-wing media wrong on Iran deal site sampling: http://mm4a.org/1gJTHN9

Evidence collection in compliance - “The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said Monday that Iran had turned over samples from a suspected site of nuclear experimentation, but confirmed that they had been collected by Iranians under the watchful eye of surveillance devices, rather than by outside nuclear inspectors,” reports Thomas Erdbrink and David Sanger for The New York Times.

--“The director general, Yukiya Amano, said at a news conference in Vienna that the procedures used in the collection conformed to the agency’s standards, even if they were unusual. His deputy, Tero Varjoranta, said, ‘We feel fully confident that the process and the end result so far are fully in line with our safeguards practices.’” http://nyti.ms/1KHLpkW

Tweet - @SputnikInt: Moscow, Tehran striving to quickly sign deal on removal of enriched uranium #nuclear http://bit.ly/1KKRI7j

Turkey’s Iranian nuclear aspirations - “The likelihood of a Turkish nuclear weapons program has increased dramatically. Simply put: the Western intelligence community now largely agrees that Turkey is working both on nuclear weapon systems and on their means of delivery. Iran is the model to emulate. Consequently, Turkey has started a large-scale civilian nuclear program, justified by the country's urgent energy needs.”

--“However, Turkey has declared on many occasions that it will always insist on its ‘rights’ deriving from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and that it regards enrichment for peaceful use as perfectly legal…” In an interview with Foreign Affairs, President Abdullah Gül said, “Turkey will not allow that a neighbouring country has weapons that Turkey itself does not have.” Read full article at National Interest. http://bit.ly/1G0iUtn

Amano visits Parchin - “The U.N. nuclear watchdog, which is investigating whether Iran carried out work related to developing a nuclear bomb, said on Sunday its chief had visited a sensitive military site during a trip to the country. The visit is a highly symbolic move by the agency, which has not visited the Parchin site in a decade and has faced accusations that it reached an agreement with Tehran restricting its ability to investigate at the sprawling complex.” Get the full story from Reuters here. http://reut.rs/1V7CHn2

Quick Hit:

--“LA's Nuclear Secret: Part 1,” by Joel Grover and Matthew Glasser for NBC Los Angeles. http://bit.ly/1gJA33Q

Events:

--“Solving Japan’s Plutonium Problem,” featuring James Acton and Toby Dalton. Tuesday, September 29th from 12:30 PM - 2:00 PM at Carnegie Endowment, 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://ceip.org/1L3851j

--“Policy and Politics of the Iran Agreement,” featuring Joseph Cirincione and Bernadette Meehan. Thursday, October 8th from 4:30 PM - 6:00 PM at Georgetown University, McGhee Library, ICC 301, Washington, DC. RSVP at IranDeal.eventbrite.com.

--“American Nuclear Society Winter Meeting: Dwight D. Eisenhower Award Special Session Panel,” featuring George Schultz and Sidney Drell. Monday, November 9th from 1:00 PM - 4:00 PM at Marriott Wardman Park, Exhibit Hall A, 2660 Woodley Road NW, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1MobCEB