Stories we're following today:

Pentagon Checks Arsenal in Race for Nuclear Treaty – New York Times [link [1]]

• Although Mr. Obama has vowed that his long-term goal is eliminating nuclear weapons, there are significant disagreements about how fast and how deep reductions might be made while guaranteeing America’s security in a world in which other nations maintain nuclear arsenals, others might be tempted to build them — and bomb-making knowledge can never be erased.
• A senior Pentagon official said the calculations not only were about specific numbers but also finding the right balance: “So long as there are nuclear weapons in the world, how do we sustain a safe, secure and effective nuclear deterrent for us, and that can be extended to our allies? How do you define that?”
• “With the end of the cold war and the development of new conventional technologies, the traditional purposes for U.S. nuclear weapons have become increasingly less relevant,” said Daryl G. Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, an independent advocacy group. “We can and should limit the role of our nuclear weapons to a core deterrence mission,” he added, noting that deterring attacks on the United States and its allies “requires far fewer nuclear warheads and delivery systems.”

Iran Submits Proposals Aimed at Spurring New Nuclear Talks – Bloomberg [link [2]]

• Iran submitted a package of proposals to the leading United Nations Security Council nations aimed at prompting a resumption of talks on its nuclear program.
• Aliasghar Soltanieh, Iran’s ambassador to the UN’s nuclear agency, said in Vienna today the proposals include compromises on security, economic and nuclear issues. “We hope that we can organize a new round of negotiations within the framework of the new package,” [the state-run Iranian] Press TV cited as Mottaki as saying yesterday.

US Very Concerned About Iran’s Nuclear Program – Associated Press 

• Glyn Davies, Washington's chief envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned that the latest report by the nuclear watchdog shows that Tehran is either very near or already in possession of sufficient low-enriched uranium to produce one nuclear weapon, if the decision were made to further enrich it to weapons-grade.
• "Taken in connection with Iran's refusal to engage with the IAEA regarding its past nuclear warhead-related work, we have serious concerns that Iran is deliberately attempting, at a minimum, to preserve a nuclear weapons option," Davies said.

Pakistani Scientist Cites Help to Iran – Washington Post [link [3]]

• The creator of Pakistan's nuclear weapons program boasted in a recent television interview that he and other senior Pakistani officials, eager to see Iran develop nuclear weapons, years ago guided that country to a proven network of suppliers and helped advance its covert efforts.
• A.Q. Khan, whom Washington considers the world's most ambitious proliferator of nuclear weapons technology, told a television interviewer in Karachi, Pakistan, that if Iran succeeds in "acquiring nuclear technology, we will be a strong bloc in the region to counter international pressure. Iran's nuclear capability will neutralize Israel's power."

The Emerging Axis of Iran and Venezuela – Robert Morgenthau in the Wall Street Journal [link [4]]

• With the groundwork laid years ago, we are entering a period where the fruits of the Iran-Venezuela bond will begin to ripen.
• That means two of the world's most dangerous regimes, the self-described "axis of unity," will be acting together in our backyard on the development of nuclear and missile technology. And it seems that terrorist groups have found the perfect operating ground for training and planning, and financing their activities through narco-trafficking.