IAEA: Iran Complying with Joint Plan of Action

March 21, 2014 | Edited by Lauren Mladenka and Geoff Wilson

On track - “Iran is meeting its commitments under a landmark nuclear pact with world powers but has yet to complete a facility it will need to fulfil the six-month deal,” according to an IAEA report. “The planned plant is designed to convert low-enriched uranium gas (LEU) into a less proliferation-sensitive oxide form,” and is set to “begin operations after commissioning due to start on April 9.” Fredrik Dahl has the story in Reuters. http://reut.rs/1gFBB7i

IAEA report - “Status of Iran’s Nuclear Programme in relation to the Joint Plan of Action.” IAEA Board of Governors report, March 20, 2014. (pdf) http://bit.ly/1jbHr8i

Tweet - @TP_Security: Surprise! The UN's nuclear watchdog reports that Iran is still sticking to last year's nuclear deal via @mattduss http://bit.ly/1r5umyz

The next to ratify - “Israel could be the next advanced nuclear state to ratify the pact that bans atomic testing, according to the official who leads implementation of the treaty,” Global Security Newswire reports. “Israel is ‘probably the one that could ratify first’ of eight holdout nations whose ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty is necessary for it to enter into force, said Lassina Zerbo in an interview with the Times of Israel. He was reported as saying that, "The message I'm getting is not 'if' but 'when.'" The remaining eight nations that have not yet formally declared adherence to the CTBT are: China, Egypt, India, Iran, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and the United States. Full report here. http://bit.ly/1digePd

NATO perspective - “The head of NATO says Russia's incursion into Ukraine may affect the prospects for nuclear arms control in Europe, which already faced political challenges,” reports Rachel Oswald in a piece for Global Security Newswire. NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that, “Of course I cannot exclude that the events we have witnessed in Crimea will also have an impact on the thinking about arms control, including nuclear policies." Full report here. http://bit.ly/1jgCSp0

On the bright side - “Ukraine is a bad news story that is destined to get worse,” writes Graham Allison in The National Interest. “In the midst of a tragedy, it will strike some as inappropriate to note that things could be worse. Nonetheless, pausing to recognize why they are not can remind us both of successes for which we should be thankful and of obligations we cannot forget. In two words, the good news about Ukraine is: no nukes.”

--”From the perspective of American national interests, the single most important fact about Ukraine today is that there is no way events there can trigger nuclear explosions here,” Allison says. “Those now coping with the current crisis should remember actions taken over the past two decades that prevented this becoming a nuclear crisis. And they should not forget commitments we made as part of the price for denuclearization.” Full piece here. http://bit.ly/1phY5AJ

--“Poland speeds up missile defence plan amid Ukraine crisis,” by Marcin Goettig and Andrea Shalal for Reuters. http://reut.rs/1d7Gk6X

Tweet - @ISNAsstSecy: U.S. works w/partners on #global #nonproliferation initiative to prevent, detect, & respond to #nuclear #terrorism. http://1.usa.gov/1gimhU4

Nowruz - “President Obama delivered his annual Nowruz message to the people of Iran on Thursday, and he included a pitch for a long-term agreement on Tehran's nuclear program,” reports David Jackson in USA Today. “If Tehran ‘meets its international obligations, then there could be a new relationship between our two countries, and Iran could begin to return to its rightful place among the community of nations,’ Obama said in a video message.” Read the full piece here. http://usat.ly/OHwxt7

Talks planned - “Japan and North Korea agreed on Thursday to hold formal talks for the first time in more than a year,” according to Japanese officials. The planned talks, which could begin as early as next month, will “cover a wide range of issues that would probably include North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.” Martin Fackler has the story in The New York Times. http://nyti.ms/OEyAhQ

Road trip - “The Los Alamos National Laboratory has found a temporary home in Texas for roughly 1,000 barrels of radioactive junk left in limbo after a radiation leak led to a prolonged shutdown of New Mexico's only nuclear waste disposal facility,” writes Joseph Kolb in Reuters. “The waste that will go to Texas includes clothing, tools, rags, debris, soil and other items contaminated with low levels of radiation,” and “will be held in Texas temporarily, pending the reopening of the New Mexico repository.” Read the full article here. http://reut.rs/1gigA8t

Tweet - @globalzero: The total known area occupied by U.S. nuclear weapons bases and facilities is larger than Delaware, Maryland & Washington DC combined. #Fact

Events:

--“Implications on Deterrence Stability and Escalation Control of Tactical Nuclear Weapons in South Asia.” Discussion with Jeffrey McCausland. March 26 from 12:30-2:30 at the Stimson Center, 1111 19th St. NW, 12th floor. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1kBZQbR

--“Humanitarian Impacts of Nuclear Weapons Initiative and its Relationship to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.” Discussion with Ira Helfand and Guakhar Mukhatzhanova. March 31 from 9:30-11:30 at Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1779 Massachusetts Ave. NW. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/NxfOaY

--“Creating a Legacy for the Nuclear Security Summit.” Discussion with Kenneth Luongo and Sharon Squassoni. April 2 from 12:00-1:30 at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2nd floor conference room A, 1616 Rhode Island Ave. NW. RSVP by email to PPP@csis.org