North Korea Restarts Atomic Fuel Production

The next JCPOA candidate? - “North Korea says it has revamped and restarted all its atomic bomb fuel production plants, and warned that it is ready ‘at any time’ to use nuclear weapons against the US and other ‘hostile’ countries,” writes Justin McCurry. “While Tuesday’s announcement will further worsen relations between Pyongyang and the rest of the world, the move is being seen as an attempt to pressure Washington into restarting talks that could lead to concessions and the easing of sanctions against the regime.”

--“In the announcement, made via state media, the North claimed that its plutonium and highly enriched uranium facilities at the main Yongbyon nuclear complex had been ‘rearranged, changed or readjusted and they started normal operation’... a day after the North threatened to launch ‘satellites’ that many believe are covers for long-range missile tests. North Korea insists its rocket launches are intended [for peaceful purposes], but the US, Japan and other countries regard them as covers for ballistic missile tests,... banned under UN security council resolutions.”

--“The fear is that North Korea is moving closer to being able to combine nuclear weapons with missile delivery systems. This would make it a credible threat to targets as far away as the US mainland. Last year, a senior US general claimed that North Korea already possessed the expertise to build a nuclear warhead that could be mounted on a ballistic missile.” Read more at The Guardian here. http://bit.ly/1Qemt4u

Tweet - @38NorthNK: New activity underway at #NorthKorea's #nuclear facility, 2 key areas for plutonium production: http://bit.ly/1JUQ8OC

Proscribing Iran’s ballistic missile program - “The JCPOA will prevent Iran from arming its ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads, [making] Iran’s missile inventory [look] far less formidable than it would have without the agreement… While eventual introduction of longer-range Iranian ballistic missiles is a valid concern, the imminence of such a development has significantly receded from what it appeared to be in 2012,” explains the Arms Control Association’s Greg Thielmann for Defense News.

--“The UN Security Council has now extended for up to eight years a proscription on Iranian nuclear-capable ballistic missile activity and trade. That the key missile technology supplier states are thus committed will be a major impediment to any acceleration of Iran’s medium- and longer-range missile programs. Spearheaded by persistent multilateral diplomacy and backed-up by US military and economic power, the international community is reining in Iran’s putative nuclear weapons program.” Full story here. http://bit.ly/1KQeXid

Tweet - @UN_Vienna:DG Amano of the @iaeaorg updates 59th General Conference on #nuclear verification in the #DPRK @UN_Vienna http://bit.ly/1W0b7oJ

UN official urges Iranian reassurance - “The head of the U.N.’s nuclear test ban treaty organization says Iran should follow up on its historic nuclear deal with world powers by ratifying the [Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty] and assuring it will never conduct a nuclear test explosion,” reports Edith Lederer in The Washington Post. “Lassina Zerbo said in an interview Friday with The Associated Press that if Iran doesn’t ratify the treaty, ‘it will leave room for the doubt that people have put in this deal and the good intentions of Iran.’”

--“Ratifying the treaty now, he said, will assure doubters… that before or after the nuclear agreement ends in 15 years, Iran will never conduct any nuclear test explosions in a search to develop nuclear weapons… [Zerbo added that] ratifying the treaty will also give Iran a stronger position to say that it has complied with all arms control treaties and is part of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty… ‘Trust, but verify’... ‘Why don’t you give us this assurance?’” Read more here. http://wapo.st/1MpbFmf

CNN skews poll results - “CNN misleadingly framed the result of its latest poll to claim that Americans are pessimistic about the recently signed nuclear agreement with Iran, and downplayed how its own polling shows that support for the deal has risen, and opposition to it has fallen, since July… CNN Polling Director Jennifer Agiesta said the network's latest poll found that ‘most Americans think Iran will violate the terms of the agreement’ and ‘only about half wanted to see [it] approved.’”

--“The article didn't mention that public support has increased since the last poll until… the penultimate paragraph of the article,” writes Alex Kaplan for Media Matters for America. “CNN asked poll respondents if Congress should approve or reject the agreement with Iran and found 47 percent in favor of Congress approving the deal, an increase from the 41 percent who favored it in August, and 44 percent who felt that way in July, when the deal was signed.” Full story here. http://mm4a.org/1Qf17Ej

Tweet - @wef: How do we prevent #nuclear terrorism? @iaeaorg http://bit.ly/1FKnMTp

Quick Hits:

--“Futurist: Risk of Miscalculating Nuclear War is Higher Than Ever,” by Bryant Jordan for Defense Tech . http://bit.ly/1FKqacE

--“RIP Nuclear Disarmament?,” by Rod Lyon for The National Interest. http://bit.ly/1OUn3UM

-- “AIPAC Throws in the Towel on the Iran Fight,” Jessica Schulberg for Huffington Post. http://huff.to/1Y8gswh

Events:

--“The Pope and the Bomb: New Nuclear Dangers and Moral Dilemmas,” featuring Bishop Oscar Cantú, Former Sen. Sam Nunn and Maryann Cusimano Love. Thursday, September 17th from 10:00 AM - 11:30 AM at 1st Floor Conference Room, 1777 F Street NW, Washington, D.C. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1O1wBQA

--“Underestimated: Our Not So Peaceful Nuclear Future,” featuring Henry Sokolski. Thursday, September 17th from 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM. Teleconference hosted by Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1KQhBoo

--“The Next Steps Regarding the Implementation of the Iran Deal,” featuring Gary Samore. Friday, September 18th at 11:30 AM. Teleconference sponsored by the Israeli Policy Forum. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1O5Mdm6

--“A Post-Iran Deal Security Agenda: Containment, Cooperation or Both?,” featuring Suzanne DiMaggio, Nasser Hadlan, Douglas Ollivant and Heather Hurlburt. Monday, September 21 from 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM at New America, 1899 L Street NW, Suite 400, Washington, DC. RSVP here. http://bit.ly/1ispCUd