Who Picks Up the Tab for the Navy’s Subs?

The Navy’s budget game - The Navy wants to move the new nuclear submarine out of its budget, saving conventional ships from the crushing costs of the sub. “[Their excuse] that ballistic missile submarines are a ‘national asset’ deserving of this special status in the defense-wide budget doesn’t hold much water,” writes Ryan Alexander in U.S. News & World Report.

--“All the elements of war-making are national assets… And all the other military services manage to purchase their weapons out of their own budgets… So the Navy, and only the Navy, gets relief from its budgetary ‘woes’ by being allowed to transfer major procurement programs over to the defense-wide budget. Watch for the Air Force to look for similar relief” for the new nuclear bomber and ICBM. http://bit.ly/1PXO3E6

Ban - “The only way to guarantee that nuclear weapons will never be used again is through their total elimination. All States share the responsibility to prevent the use of nuclear weapons, to prevent their vertical and horizontal proliferation and to achieve nuclear disarmament, including through fulfilling the objectives of the NPT and achieving its universality,” said Sebastian Kurz, on behalf of 159 countries, in remarks before the NPT Review Conference. (pdf) http://bit.ly/1EQO4aU

--How it played: “Austria, backed by 159 nations, calls for ban on nuclear weapons” by Louis Charbonneau for Reuters. http://reut.rs/1ODW4AQ

Michael Douglas - “We may now have fewer nuclear weapons, but these weapons and their delivery systems are more powerful and more sophisticated than ever before,” United Nations Messenger of Peace Michael Douglas said at the NPT Review Conference yesterday.

--“One of the great ironies of this is that the cost of developing and maintaining nuclear weapons is surpassed only by the human and environmental costs of using them. And although it may be expensive to destroy them, the price we would pay if they fell into the wrong hands or detonated accidentally would be far greater.” Full transcript of his remarks (pdf). http://bit.ly/1GtGdLs

Amendment fails - 12 Republicans joined Democrats in voting against an amendment amendment by Sen. Ron Johnson (R-WI) to the Corker-Cardin bill that would have treated an Iran nuclear deal as a treaty, requiring the approval of two-thirds of the Senate. The amendment failed 39-57, POLITICO reports. http://politi.co/1drjs3K

Tweet - @jabdi: Senate resumes consideration of the Corker #Iran bill this afternoon after Abe's joint address to Congress. Tougher amendment votes to come.

Tweet - @LobeLog: Who’s Killing Corker’s Iran Bill, and Why http://bit.ly/1be97X9

Misreading history - “Stories of Iran as a supposedly threatening regional hegemon are not only not a reason to oppose reaching agreements with Tehran; the stories aren't even true,” writes Paul Pillar in The National Interest. Critics of the nuclear deal who portray the country this way ignore Iran’s current behavior and its history, Pillar argues. http://bit.ly/1QJEppL

IAEA timeline - The IAEA and Iran are working to resolve concerns over Iran’s past nuclear weapons work, but the investigation may not be complete before Iran and the world powers reach a final deal, IAEA Director-General Yukiya Amano said in an interview. Bloomberg has the story. http://bloom.bg/1GvUtTZ

Naval tensions - Iran’s boarding of the Maersk Tigris, a Marshall-Islands flagged cargo ship, has emboldened critics of a nuclear deal, who argue that the incident shows Iran cannot be trusted.

--U.S. officials downplayed the incident as a simple matter of keeping sea lanes open. The U.S. has signed a security compact with the Marshall Islands, but it is unclear whether it is obligated by treaty to defend the Tigris. The Hill has the story. http://bit.ly/1EomTRw

Sen. Cotton - Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) “isn’t fooling anyone: either he doesn’t support diplomacy, or he doesn’t know what the concept of diplomacy means,” writes Daniel DePetris in an article on the senator’s efforts to derail negotiations with Iran. Read the full post in The National Interest. http://bit.ly/1zdn1Eu

US-Japan statement - “Japan and the United States reaffirm our commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons... We affirm that it is in the interest of all States that the 70-year record of non-use should be extended forever and remain convinced that all States share the responsibility for achieving this goal,” reads the joint statement on the NPT.

--“We welcome the EU/E3+3 deal with Iran and encourage completion of the work... We also remain committed to a diplomatic process to achieve North Korea’s complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization.” Full statement here. http://1.usa.gov/1DWdhdw

About that 4th North Korean test - “I think the hypothesis that North Korea conducted a nuclear test in May 2010 is a reasonable one worth considering. North Korea has conducted three nuclear weapons tests, presumably reducing the size and mass of the nuclear device, fixing whatever went wrong in 2006 and possibly confirming a design using uranium. It is possible that, along the way, North Korea conducted a low-yield science experiment or simply tested a dud,” writes Jeffrey Lewis for 38North.

--”Frankly, I’d love to be the person who proves that North Korea conducted a secret nuclear test. But, based on the evidence we have, I just don’t think it is more likely than not,” Lewis concludes. http://bit.ly/1GFnorp

Quick Hits:

--“Iran slams nuclear powers, Israel at UN atomic treaty meeting,” by Louis Charbonneau for Reuters. http://reut.rs/1J8HkDk

--”Why an Iran Deal Won’t Lead to Nuclear Proliferation,” by Dina Esfiandary and Ariane Tabatabai in The Washington Post. http://wapo.st/1DWaelB

--“Nuclear Attack Survivors, 70 Years Later, Now Fading Away,” from the AP. http://nyti.ms/1ECWhh3

--“Paying a price for blowing the whistle on Israel’s nuclear weapons, 30 years on,” The Guardian interview with Mordechai Vanunu. http://bit.ly/1PTv25N

Events:

--Senate continues floor votes on the Iran Nuclear Amendment Review Act of 2015, S. 615 (now included in H.R. 1191), April 29. Live webcast here: http://cs.pn/1OYfmeV

--"From Nuclear Deterrence to Disarmament: Evolving Catholic Perspectives," featuring Desmond Browne, Rev. Bryan Hehir, Rev. Antoine Abi Ghanem and Maryann Cusimano Love. May 7th from 6:00-8:00pm, Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs (170 E. 64th St., New York). RSVP here using the promotional code ND5715: http://bit.ly/1AgdCqG

--Arms Control Association annual meeting, featuring keynotes Alexander Kmett, Austrian Director of Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament, and Colin Kahl, National Security Advisor to Vice President. May 14th from 9:00am-2:30pm at Carnegie. http://bit.ly/1dsD8V0

--”Deterrent Options for the Future,” remarks by Linton Brooks, former NNSA Administrator, at the Huessy Congressional breakfast Series. May 19th from 8:00am-9:00am at the Capitol Hill Club. http://conta.cc/1DKftpf

Dessert:

Weird weapons - From atomic artillery to nuclear torpedoes, here’s a look at some of the strangest nuclear weapons ever fielded by the U.S. military, via We Are The Mighty. Find the full list here: http://bit.ly/1bMDhlF