Iran in Nuclear Compliance: Implementation Day is Here

Obama lays out Implementation Day benefits - “This is a good day, because, once again, we’re seeing what’s possible with strong American diplomacy,” President Barack Obama said in a statement addressing the implementation of the nuclear deal with Iran. “Iran will not get its hands on a nuclear bomb... Engaging directly with the Iranian government on a sustained basis, for the first time in decades, has created a unique opportunity -- a window -- to try to resolve important issues.”

--“When our sailors in the Persian Gulf accidentally strayed into Iranian waters that could have sparked a major international incident... Instead, we worked directly with the Iranian government and secured the release of our sailors in less than 24 hours… Several Americans unjustly detained by Iran are finally coming home… After the nuclear deal was completed, the discussions between our governments accelerated. Yesterday, these families finally got the news that they have been waiting for.”

--Before this deal, “Iran was steadily expanding its nuclear program, we have now cut off every single path that Iran could have used to build a bomb. Whereas it would have taken Iran two to three months to break out with enough material to rush to a bomb, we’ve now extended that breakout time to a year -- and with the world’s unprecedented inspections and access to Iran’s program, we’ll know if Iran ever tries to break out.” Full statement here. http://1.usa.gov/1SWEic8

Iran renounces nuclear weapons - “The United States and European nations lifted oil and financial sanctions on Iran on Saturday and released roughly $100 billion of its assets after international inspectors concluded that the country had followed through on promises to dismantle large sections of its nuclear program,” reports David Sanger for The New York Times.

--“‘Iran has undertaken significant steps that many people — and I do mean many — doubted would ever come to pass,’ Secretary of State John Kerry said Saturday evening at the headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which earlier issued a report detailing how Iran had shipped 98 percent of its fuel to Russia, dismantled more than 12,000 centrifuges so they could not enrich uranium, and poured cement into the core of a reactor designed to produce plutonium.” Find the full article here. http://nyti.ms/1UYyJsu

See also- “With Iran nuclear deal implemented, what happens next?” by Rick Gladstone for The New York Times. http://nyti.ms/1NdqItV

Tweet - @mkearley2008: Joe @Cirincione on MSNBC reacting to news of Iran prisoner swap https://youtu.be/b15HTAjWz-I via @YouTube

Ensuring the Iran deal’s success - “The arrival of implementation day of the 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, marks a historic milestone in the process to block Iran’s pathways to a nuclear weapon and to ensure that Tehran’s nuclear activities remain exclusively peaceful for many years to come,” writes Kelsey Davenport for Arms Control Now.

--“With the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) determination that Iran has completed key steps that significantly limit its nuclear program in four major categories and the initiation of more stringent monitoring and verification provisions, formal implementation has begun, which includes the removal of nuclear-related sanctions. But implementation day is just the beginning of a complex process that will require vigilance and continued commitment from Iran, the IAEA, the P5+1, and the EU over the next several decades.” Read the full piece here. http://bit.ly/1QbqnfO

See also- “After nuclear pact, new U.S.-Iran talks bring new deals,” by Dan De Luce for Foreign Policy. http://atfp.co/1ZKdVvy

Republican candidates play with fire - “None of the GOP candidates seem prepared to confront the complexities of our nuclear arsenal. Even worse, they fail to grasp the meat of the issue… The Obama administration has announced plans to rebuild the U.S. nuclear arsenal, to the tune of $1 trillion over the next 30 years, promising to build 12 nuclear-armed submarines, 100 strategic bombers, about 400 land-based ballistic missiles, 1,000 cruise missiles, and hundreds of upgraded bombs and warheads to go with them. This, from the same president who in 2009 called for world free of nuclear weapons.”

--“All of this sends the mistaken message to the rest of the world that nuclear weapons are useful. Why else would the United States spend $1 trillion on them? And if the world’s only superpower wants to invest in new nukes, others surely will want them too.” Read the full piece by Tom Collina for Foreign Policy here. http://atfp.co/1P4T9lg

See also- “Republicans’ self-defeating attack on Obama’s Iran policy,” by Eli Clifton for LobeLog. http://bit.ly/20bNrQm

Video - Watch the Nuclear Threat Initiative’s short video about the dismal state of security preparedness at nuclear facilities around the world: http://bit.ly/1U9tOVk

Quick Hits:

--“China says it supports 'necessary' U.N. response to North Korea test,” by Michael Martina and Clarence Fernandez for Reuters. http://reut.rs/1PDaKee

--“For Iran, a nuclear option more trouble than it was worth,” by Siegfried Hecker for the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. http://bit.ly/1QbuXKX

--“Emily Thornberry will have final say on Labour’s Trident review,” by Rowena Mason for the Guardian. --“North Korea’s Yongbyon nuclear facility: slow progress at the experimental light water reactor,” an analysis by William Mugford for 38 North. http://bit.ly/1JfxOmV

--“Book review: ‘Los Alamos: secret colony, hidden truths’ by Chuck Montaño,” by Casey Sanchez for Pasatiempo - The Santa Fe New Mexican . http://bit.ly/2053gIB

Events:

--"Verifying Disarmament: Scientific, Technological and Political Challenges," featuring Joseph Pilat, Los Alamos National Laboratory. January 20, from 12:30-2:00 p.m. at the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation. VCDNP Conference Room, Donau-City-Strasse 6, Andromeda Tower, Floor 13/1, Vienna. RSVP online. http://conta.cc/1Qbvmgv

--“Implications of Iran's Nuclear 'Implementation Day'," featuring Barbara Slavin, Atlantic Council and sponsored by Women's Foreign Policy Group. Noon Jan. 22 at the Wilderness Society, 1615 M St. NW, Washington. Register here. http://bit.ly/1RxW8mp

--"Strategic Deterrent Forces: A Foundation for National Security," featuring Adm. Cecil Haney, U.S. Strategic Command; Franklin Miller, Scowcroft Group; Keith Payne, National Institute for Public Policy; and Thomas Karako, Center for Strategic and International Studies. Jan. 22 from 10:00 a.m. - Noon at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW, Second Floor Conference Room, Washington. RSVP by email at intlsecurity@CSIS.org. Webcast on the CSIS website. http://bit.ly/22ewI0O

--“Symposium: Science and Diplomacy for Peace and Security; The CTBT at 20," presented by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization. From January 25 - February 4, at the Vienna International Centre, Vienna. Participants can take part in the symposium in person or online. RSVP online. https://ktp.ctbto.org/

--“Centrifuges, Sanctions and Security," featuring Paul Carroll, Ploughshares Fund. January 27 from 6:30-9:00 p.m. at Dominican University, Caleruega Dining Hall, 50 Acacia Ave., San Rafael, CA. Dinner reservations required by Jan. 22. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1IOuOh8

Dessert:

From The Onion: Iran’s WC evasion - “Running into the bathroom with armfuls of the fissile material after spotting several United Nations nuclear inspectors approaching for a surprise visit, panicked scientists at Iran’s Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant reportedly scrambled to flush more than 200 pounds of enriched uranium-235 down the toilet Monday,” according to the The Onion.

--“‘Uh, uh, just a minute—I’m not feeling too well!’ the facility’s frantic and heavily perspiring chief physicist, Dr. Yadollah Kashani, reportedly shouted through the closed bathroom door in response to several knocks from the U.N. inspectors, as he and his colleagues hurriedly flushed the toilet over and over until it became clogged with nuclear fuel and began to overflow.” Read the full, imaginative piece here. http://onion.com/1OtaIrH