Obama at UN: Room for Diplomacy with Iran, but Patience Limited

On the radar: Nuclear portions of the speech; Taking stock of Iran policy; Carroll on DPRK; Ahmadinejad in NY; Blimp nets an intercept; CMRR update; New START BCC; and Nuking your cocktails.

September 25, 2012 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke

Obama on Iran - “Let me be clear: America wants to resolve this issue through diplomacy, and we believe that there is still time and space to do so. But that time is not unlimited,” said President Obama in his speech before the UN General Assembly.

--”We respect the right of nations to access peaceful nuclear power, but one of the purposes of the United Nations is to see that we harness that power for peace. Make no mistake: a nuclear-armed Iran is not a challenge that can be contained. It would threaten the elimination of Israel, the security of Gulf nations, and the stability of the global economy. It risks triggering a nuclear-arms race in the region, and the unraveling of the non-proliferation treaty. That is why a coalition of countries is holding the Iranian government accountable. And that is why the United States will do what we must to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon.” Full text at The New York Times. http://nyti.ms/PDA4EM

Obama on nuclear security - Included in the President’s list of hopeful signs for international security: ”Nations have come together to lock down nuclear materials, and America and Russia are reducing our arsenals,” said President Obama in the other nuclear line of his UN remarks.

Iran policy - “Over the previous few years, the president has used his office to repeatedly extend offers of rapprochement to Iranian leaders. And when those attempts have been rejected — firmly — he has used diplomacy to build an unprecedented wall of international opposition to Iran’s nuclear program and preside over the imposition of the harshest economic sanctions in the country’s history,” writes Joby Warrick in an overview of the Obama administration’s efforts to keep Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

--Warrick assesses that the administration’s policies have borne some fruit, even while Iran’s program advanced.

--Admin view: “The president has made an assurance that he will prevent Iran from making a nuclear weapon, and his record bears out that he will do what he says,” said Deputy National Security Advisor Ben Rhodes. “The best way to do that is through diplomacy.” Full story at The Washington Post. http://wapo.st/Sj2WAh

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Article - “The Mouse that Keeps Roaring:The United States, China, and Solving the North Korean Challenge” by Ploughshares Fund Program Director Paul Carroll in the Yale Journal of International Affairs. (pdf) http://bit.ly/UDfgl9

Ahmadinejad speeches - We’ll spare you the grief of recapping Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s speeches and instead allow others to put them in context. “President Ahmadinejad says foolish, offensive and sometimes unintelligible things with great regularity. What he should focus on is the failure of his government of Iran to abide by its international obligations, to abide by United Nations Security Council resolutions,” said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney about the Iranian President. AP has the story. http://wapo.st/Q6bCu9

The A-jad Show - “At times, the session had the feel of a very awkward talk show, one with no real followups and where the host didn't get to interrupt even if the guest refused to answer the question,” writes Susan Glasser in Foreign Policy of an uncomfortable breakfast featuring Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and a roundtable of veteran journalists in New York. http://bit.ly/OS0h5J

JLENS - The Pentagon successfully performed a test intercept of an anti-ship cruise missile using the Joint Land Attack Cruise Missile Defense Elevated Netted Sensor (JLENS). This sensor blimp program passed a very different landmark this spring, when the Pentagon all but killed the program, which, after $1.9 billion in development spending, was years behind schedule and has facing daunting design issues. Robert Beckhusen at Danger Room has the story. http://bit.ly/RUsxWh

Turner bill - Rep. Michael Turner’s (R-OH) recent legislation that would put the military in charge of security for nuclear weapons facilities “has a lot of problems,” according to Nick Roth of the Center for Arms Control & Non-Proliferation. Included issues: the bill does not specify which military branch would take over security and does not say who would foot the bill.

--"To me, this seems like Congressman Turner is trying to do something about security without compromising his true priority, which is making the labs autonomous,” said Roth. Frank Munger has the quotes. http://bit.ly/NOQzQ1

CMRR and NDAA - The CMRR nuclear weapons facility received no funds in the six-month Continuing Resolution recently passed by Congress, likely terminating the $6 billion project. But the fight might not be entirely over, notes Michael Coleman at The Albuquerque Journal, as the defense authorization bill still looms on the horizon. http://bit.ly/Q658eH

BCC - Tweets @Gottemoeller: At the conclusion of the New START Bilateral Consultative Commission in Geneva, the U.S. and #Russia agreed on two Joint Statements.

--”Bilateral Consultative Commission Agreement Number 3: On the Acquisition of Telemetric Information Playback Equipment” http://1.usa.gov/UQhnRb

--”Bilateral Consultative Commission Agreement Number 4: On the Use of Tamper Detection Equipment” http://1.usa.gov/NOUxIi

Tweet - @Wellerstein: OMG. An ice mold that looks like a Mark 6 nuclear bomb. SERIOUSLY AWESOME. http://bit.ly/PDBxej