Nuclear Weapons

The headlines from last month's Iranian nuclear talks in Istanbul could not have been more misleading: "Iran is ready to resolve nuclear issues. " The accumulation of historical fact in this long crisis proves just the opposite: The Iranian regime is bent on acquiring a nuclear weapon, and will take full advantage of diplomacy toward this end if allowed to do so, including this week's talks in Baghdad. Indeed, the Iranian strategy of exploiting diplomacy to further advance the nuclear program is a matter of regime policy.

Iran's official news agency says Iran's military has wound up a one-day exercise in the center of the country. The Wednesday report by IRNA says Gen. Ahmad Reza Pourdastan, commander of Iran's ground forces, described the aim of the exercise as showing Iran's readiness to confront "global arrogance," a reference to the United States, as well as improving the capabilities of the forces. He said jet fighters took part in successful maneuvers, and new weapons were tested. The one-day drill has been held annually since 1987.

TEHRAN — Iran’s elite Revolutionary Guard held war games yesterday in the strategic Persian Gulf oil route, the Hormuz Strait, a show of its military strength at a time when the country’s leaders are depicting President Obama’s new nuclear policy as a threat. Ahead of the military maneuvers, Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei accused Washington of trying to dominate the world through its nuclear arsenal and vowed that Iran would not bend before what he called “implicit atomic threats.’’ Khamenei was referring to Obama’s announcement earlier this month of a new nuclear strategy...

Your daily look at late-breaking news, upcoming events and the stories that will be talked about today (times EDT): 1. EGYPT HOLDS ITS FIRST FREE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION The voting that began at 2 a.m. is the greatest prize won in last year's Arab Spring uprising that toppled Hosni Mubarak. Egyptians are choosing among 13 candidates representing both secular and Islamist paths. 2. FINANCIAL REGULATORS PROBING FACEBOOK IPO They want to find out whether the bank that handled the sale, Morgan Stanley, selectively informed clients of an analyst's negative report on the company before the...

WHILE JULIETTE Kayyem is on the right track, she does not go far enough ( "Smart nuclear reduction; The US could save billions of dollars and still have plenty of bombs," Op-ed, Feb. 27). Yes, the US should reduce its nuclear stockpile. But why do we need the bomb at all? Kayyem says herself that the weapons will not be used and will not discourage nuclear proliferation by Iran and other countries. As a 19-year-old Northeastern University student, I don't see why we're acting as though we're still in the midst of the Cold War, rather than in 2012.

The U.S. has plans in place to attack Iran if necessary to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, Washington's envoy to Israel said, days ahead of a crucial round of nuclear talks with Tehran. Dan Shapiro's message resonated Thursday far beyond the closed forum in which it was made: Iran should not test Washington's resolve to act on its promise to strike if diplomacy and sanctions fail to pressure Tehran to abandon its disputed nuclear program. Shapiro told the Israel Bar Association the U.S. hopes it will not have to resort to military force.

UNITED NATIONS -- The Bush administration responded calmly yesterday to North Korean statements it has turned the plutonium from 8,000 spent nuclear fuel rods into nuclear weapons. Senior administration officials said they were not abandoning the six-nation talks designed to halt North Korea's nuclear weapons program, even as they acknowledged negotiations will not resume this month despite previous North Korean commitments to do so. They suggested North Korea might be wooed back to the table later this year after the US presidential election and after the board...

WASHINGTON -- While nuclear weapons that burrow underground can destroy fortified bunkers, they also can cause severe casualties on the earth's surface, a National Research Council report said yesterday. Nuclear weapons that can destroy bunkers buried hundreds of feet below the surface are deployed in many countries, the council said. These ground-penetrating nuclear warheads need less power to destroy the bunkers than weapons detonated at ground level. But they do not go deep enough to avoid many deaths and injuries on the surface, the council said.

SEOUL -- South Korea's Defense Ministry said yesterday that North Korea is believed to have about 110 pounds of plutonium, enough to produce up to seven nuclear weapons. In its biennial defense report, the ministry also said the North is believed to be capable of producing biological weapons, including anthrax weapons, and possesses up to 5,000 tons of toxic agents. The report described North Korea "as a serious threat, considering the serious nature of its nuclear test and threat of weapons of mass destruction," the ministry said in a statement.

VATICAN CITY -- In his first Easter message as pontiff, Pope Benedict XVI urged countries yesterday to use diplomacy to defuse nuclear crises, apparently alluding to Iran. He also prayed that one day, Palestinians would have their own state alongside Israel. On Christianity's most joyous day -- which fell on Benedict's 79th birthday -- the pontiff also prayed for Iraq's violence to cease. From the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Benedict reflected on the globe's troubled regions shortly after he celebrated Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square, which...

Despite some remaining differences, a deal has been reached with Iran that will allow the U.N. nuclear agency to restart a long-stalled probe into suspicions that Tehran has secretly worked on developing nuclear arms, the U.N. nuclear chief said Tuesday. The news from International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano, who returned from Tehran on Tuesday, comes just a day before Iran and six world powers meet in Baghdad for negotiations and could present a significant turning point in the heated dispute over Iran's nuclear intentions.

The headlines from last month's Iranian nuclear talks in Istanbul could not have been more misleading: "Iran is ready to resolve nuclear issues. " The accumulation of historical fact in this long crisis proves just the opposite: The Iranian regime is bent on acquiring a nuclear weapon, and will take full advantage of diplomacy toward this end if allowed to do so, including this week's talks in Baghdad. Indeed, the Iranian strategy of exploiting diplomacy to further advance the nuclear program is a matter of regime policy.

President Barack Obama's preferred path to end the Iranian nuclear standoff faces a stern test this week when world powers sit down with Iran in another bid to press it to meet international demands to prove it is not trying to develop nuclear weapons. Failure will strengthen calls for military action. Wednesday's talks in Baghdad come at a critical juncture in the almost decade-long effort to persuade Iran's government to halt its enrichment of uranium and allow unfettered access to international inspectors, with Israel continuing to speak of a possible attack.

The head of the U.N. nuclear agency arrived Monday in Tehran on a key mission that could lead to the resumption of probes by the watchdog on whether Iran has secretly worked on an atomic weapon. It would also strength the Islamic Republic's negotiating hand in crucial nuclear talks with six world powers later this week in Baghdad. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano and his two aides were quickly whisked away after landing at the Tehran airport before dawn Monday.

The head of the U.N. nuclear agency flew to Tehran on Sunday on a delicate mission that — if successful — could finally lift the veil on whether Iran is seeking atomic arms while strengthening the Islamic Republic's negotiating hand in crucial nuclear talks with six world powers later in the week. The trip by International Atomic Energy Agency chief Yukiya Amano is focused on getting agreement from Iran to terms that will allow the agency to resume probing whether Tehran secretly worked on nuclear arms.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday he is skeptical that Iran will agree to halt its nuclear program, accusing Tehran of playing a "chess game" with the international community. Just days ahead of a crucial round of nuclear talks with Tehran, Netanyahu said "nothing would be better than to just see this issue solved diplomatically. " "But I have to say I see no evidence whatsoever that Iran is serious about ending its nuclear program," he said. The five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council and Germany are gearing up...

YANGON, Myanmar — The nation’s military junta denied yesterday that it is developing a nuclear weapons program, decrying the allegations as groundless and politically motivated. State radio and television news reported the Foreign Ministry’s denial, which claimed that antigovernment groups in collusion with the media had launched the allegations to hinder “Myanmar’s democratic process and to tarnish the political image of the government.’’ The Norway-based Democratic Voice of Burma, a Myanmar exile news service, last week charged that the junta, aided by North Korea, is actively...

TALLINN, Estonia — US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton yesterday ruled out an early withdrawal of US nuclear forces from Europe, telling a NATO meeting that any reductions should be tied to a nuclear pullback by Russia, which has far more such weapons in range of European targets. No negotiation of the issue with Russia is in the offing, and Moscow has shown little interest thus far in bargaining away its tactical nuclear arms. Clinton also said the Obama administration wants NATO to accept missile defense as a core mission of the alliance, making it part of a...

JERUSALEM - The United States has plans in place to attack Iran if necessary to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, Washington's envoy to Israel said, days ahead of a crucial round of nuclear talks with Tehran. Dan Shapiro's message resonated Thursday far beyond the closed forum in which it was made: Iran should not test Washington's resolve to act on its promise to strike if diplomacy and sanctions fail to pressure Tehran to abandon its disputed nuclear program. Shapiro told the Israel Bar Association that the United States hopes it will not have to resort to military force.

The U.S. has plans in place to attack Iran if necessary to prevent it from developing nuclear weapons, Washington's envoy to Israel said, days ahead of a crucial round of nuclear talks with Tehran. Dan Shapiro's message resonated Thursday far beyond the closed forum in which it was made: Iran should not test Washington's resolve to act on its promise to strike if diplomacy and sanctions fail to pressure Tehran to abandon its disputed nuclear program. Shapiro told the Israel Bar Association the U.S. hopes it will not have to resort to military force.