Tauscher Urges Iran to Follow Though on "Opportunity to Engage"

U.S. Asks Tehran to Accept Nuclear Offer - RTT News [link]

• The United States has urged Iran to "engage" with the West over its controversial nuclear program, warning that if persuasion does not work, more sanctions are inevitable.
• Speaking at the Halifax International Security Forum, Ellen Tauscher, Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security said Monday the U.S. would prefer that the Iranian regime followed through on the opportunity to engage.
• Tehran "asked for engagement with the U.S. It has it. Now, what is it going to do? Is it going to stand up and say that it is going to take our deal ... or is it going to use some other flimsy excuse to duck," she queried.
• However, Tauscher warned that if persuasion did not work, pressure would be the next line of action--hinting a further round of sanctions against the Islamic republic possibly, targeting its oil sector--which would require international support.

Why Iran's Opposition Movement Complicates Nuclear Talks - TIME [link]

• As the Administration begins lobbying its international partners for punitive new measures against Iran, Makhmalbaf and other opposition figures have urged the U.S. to focus primarily on the Revolutionary Guards.
• "We need certain sanctions to hurt the regime, but not the people," said Makhmalbaf, who urged Washington to quickly impose a series of sanctions on the Guards since incremental steps allow them time to develop alternatives. 
• Iran's refusal to accept the deal that required shipping out nuclear material for reprocessing in Russia and France, say Iranian analysts, is partly linked to the divide between Ahmadinejad and Khamenei. 

Scientists: The Nukes Are Alright - Joe Cirincione in the Huffington Post [link]

• The premier scientific panel advising the Defense Department just concluded that US nuclear weapons will last indefinitely under current maintenance programs. We don't need new nuclear weapons. We don't need new nuclear tests. We don't need expensive new nuclear programs.
• The report undermines the fear-based arguments of the nuclear extremists. While a strong consensus has developed among liberals and conservatives to reduce both the number and role of nuclear weapons in American security strategy, a small group has tried to use the issue for partisan attacks. They have manufactured myths of nuclear vulnerability to justify their opposition to a treaty banning all nations from conducting new nuclear tests.

U.S. and India Hone Nuclear Pact for Singh's Arrival - Wall Street Journal [link]

• India and the U.S. are pushing to tie up vital details of a nuclear-energy cooperation agreement approved by their legislatures last year, ahead of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's visit to the White House Tuesday, said officials from both countries.
• "We have made tremendous progress" on the nuclear talks, Timothy Roemer, U.S. ambassador to India, said in New Delhi this week. "We are pushing hard to see a successful conclusion to these issues."

A View from the Dark Side

President Obama Didn't Impress Asia - John Bolton in the Wall Street Journal [link]

• It was a journey of startlingly few concrete accomplishments, demonstrable proof that neither personal popularity nor media deference really means much in the hard world of international affairs.
• On U.S. national security, Mr. Obama came away from Beijing empty-handed in his efforts to constrain both the Iranian and North Korean nuclear weapons programs, meaning that instability in the Middle East and East Asia will surely grow.