Iran 'Closer' to Nuclear Breakout

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September 10, 2009

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Stories we're following today:

Iran 'Closer' to Nuclear Weapon - Glenn Kessler and Thomas Erdbrink of the Washington Post [link]

  • Iran "is now either very near or in possession" of enough low-enriched uranium to produce one nuclear weapon, a senior U.S. diplomat said Wednesday, as he offered some of the toughest remarks by an Obama administration official on Iran's nuclear ambitions.
  • [The report to the IAEA came] on the same day that Iran offered a counterproposal to end the impasse over its nuclear program... The Iranian proposal, which remains confidential, was delivered to diplomats in Tehran, but initial reactions were of disappointment.
  • Note: to view the science behind the Iranian program, see section 2.7 of the Joint Threat Assessment on Iran's Nuclear and Missile Potential.

European Missile Defense Reviewed – Politico [link]

  • The Obama administration is expected to wrap up its examination of the nation’s ballistic missile defense programs this month, including the controversial proposal to place a missile defense system in Europe that NATO and some governments there embrace over the strong opposition of their citizens.
  • “Certainly the Bush administration was very enthusiastic, and the Obama administration is less so,” said John Isaacs, executive director of Council for a Livable World. He didn’t mince words about his own preference: “I hope they kill the system.”

Parliamentary Group Presses Obama on Nuclear Policy - AFP [link]

  • UK lawmakers Wednesday pressed US President Barack Obama to prove through actions rather than just words that he is committed to his stated goal of a nuclear-free world.
  • The [cross-party group dubbed UK Parliamentarians for Multilateral Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Proliferation], which includes former ministers and generals, was to meet key US legislators and Obama administration officials this week to gauge the nuclear policies of the new administration.
  • "If... the Americans disengage from this issue, then we will end up in exactly the same position in five-10 years' time that we are in at the moment," said former defense minister Des Browne, who chairs the nuclear disarmament group.