Iranian top nuclear official Hassan Rohani announced today that Iran would suspend its uranium enrichment efforts (AFP photo/Henghameh Fahimi). Iran Agrees to Uranium Enrichment Suspension; IAEA Releases Report Before Meeting By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — In a deal finalized yesterday, Iran has agreed to suspend all activities related to the production of materials that could be used to manufacture nuclear weapons (see GSN, Nov. 12)...Full Story

Lugar to Introduce New CTR Legislation By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) is set to introduce new legislation tomorrow intended to increase U.S. nonproliferation efforts outside of the former Soviet Union (see GSN, Oct. 22)...Full Story

Sixth Missile Interceptor Installed at Alaska Base Technicians installed a sixth missile interceptor Thursday at Fort Greely, Alaska, completing the initial round of interceptors set to be deployed at the site, U.S. military officials said Friday (see GSN, Oct. 13)...Full Story

	Monday, November 15, 2004

Lugar to Introduce New CTR Legislation By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) is set to introduce new legislation tomorrow intended to increase U.S. nonproliferation efforts outside of the former Soviet Union (see GSN, Oct. 22). The bill would eliminate many of the restrictions placed on the U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction program, which seeks to secure and dispose of former Soviet weapons of mass destruction. The program is also known as the Nunn-Lugar program for its two architects — Lugar and former Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.). The bill, the Nunn-Lugar Cooperative Threat Reduction Act of 2004, would eliminate the annual $50 million cap on CTR funding spent on projects outside of the former Soviet Union, and would transfer authority to use CTR funds outside of the former Soviet Union from the president to the defense secretary.    Last month, President George W. Bush authorized the first project outside of the former Soviet Union to receive CTR funding — the destruction of Cold War-era chemical weapons in Albania. The bill would also eliminate six congressional conditions on the CTR program that must be met before program funding can be provided, as well as six conditions placed by lawmakers specifically on aid for Russian chemical weapons disarmament. Such program-wide conditions include that a recipient country make a “substantial investment of its own resources” for destroying weapons of mass destruction and that it agree to forgo using fissile materials taken from destroyed nuclear weapons in new nuclear weapons.  In 2002, U.S. President George W. Bush was unable for the first time to certify that Russia had met all six program-wide conditions, resulting in a halt to CTR funding until he was able to obtain and use authority to waive the certification requirement in early 2003. According to a fact sheet released by Lugar’s office, the certification process has provided CTR opponents within Russia with an excuse to blame the United States for delays caused by a lack of access and transparency on the part of Moscow. The process has also caused delays for months in the availability of funds for CTR projects even when presidential waivers were in place, the fact sheet says. Arms Control Association Executive Director Daryl Kimball today praised the bill, saying it would be an “important boost” to eliminating restrictions “unwisely” placed on the CTR program by Congress. To get the bill passed, however, Lugar will need help from both the White House and from within the House of Representatives, Kimball said, noting that influential House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) has supported the conditions placed on the CTR program. Kimball also said he hoped Lugar would seek CTR program funding increases to accelerate work in “key areas,” including the construction of a chemical weapons disposal plant in the Russian city of Shchuchye and the elimination of stockpiles of highly enriched uranium around the world. The program’s budget for fiscal 2005 is about $410 million. In addition to introducing the bill tomorrow when lawmakers return to Washington for a “lame-duck” session, Lugar plans to reintroduce the legislation when Congress reconvenes in January. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Sam Nunn is chief executive officer, and Richard Lugar serves on the board, of the Nuclear Threat Initiative. NTI is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by the National Journal Group.] Back to top       Some Domestic U.S. Terrorists Continue to Seek WMD Threats of a WMD attack on the United States do not come solely from outside the country USA Today reported today (see GSN, Nov. 8). People and groups engaged in domestic terrorism include white supremacists, militia members, anticorporation activists, violent antiabortion protesters and racial separatists who advocate breakaway states for blacks or Latinos, according to USA Today The FBI said in June that ecoterrorism — environmentally motivated violence, sabotage or property damage— was the top U.S. domestic terrorism threat. The agency estimated that ecoterrorists had committed more than 1,100 criminal acts and caused some $110 million in property damage since 1976. “Not a lot of attention is being paid to this, because everybody is concerned about the guy in a turban. But there are still plenty of angry, Midwestern white guys out there,” said U.S. Marshals Service chief inspector Geoff Shank. Acts of domestic terrorism often do not receive national media coverage, according to Mark Pitcavage, director of fact-finding for the Anti-Defamation League. He added that he was surprised the case of Richard Krar, a Texas man who stockpiled sodium cyanide until he was arrested in 2002, did not receive wider attention. “This was the only case in U.S. history where we had a person in the U.S. building an actual chemical weapon,” he said (see GSN, May 5). Pitcavage said recent arrests demonstrate effectiveness of U.S. law enforcement in fighting domestic terrorism. “One of the measures of this is that the number of people arrested for (plotting) terrorist acts is far greater than the number of people arrested for carrying out such attacks. So we’re arresting them before they can carry out these acts, which is very important. 9/11 raised awareness generally among law enforcement,” he said (Kevin Johnson, USA Today, Nov. 15). Back to top       Former Soviet States Express Support for PSI Russia and five other former Soviet states issued their support Friday for the U.S.-led Proliferation Security Initiative, which seeks to interdict WMD-related cargo shipments, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, Nov. 10). The members of the Collective Security Treaty — Russia, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan — said in a statement that they are also ready to cooperate with the effort. “The Collective Security Treaty member states are located at the crossroads of possible routes of illegal transit of weapons of mass destruction … and are ready to cooperate … in taking the necessary steps to counter the spread of WMD,” according to the statement. Russia is the only Collective Security Treaty country so far to join the initiative (Associated Press, Nov. 12). Back to top

Iran Agrees to Uranium Enrichment Suspension; IAEA Releases Report Before Meeting By Greg Webb Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — In a deal finalized yesterday, Iran has agreed to suspend all activities related to the production of materials that could be used to manufacture nuclear weapons (see GSN, Nov. 12). The agreement between Iran and three European Union nations — France, Germany and the United Kingdom — calls for Tehran to maintain the suspension while the parties negotiate a permanent solution to the nuclear crisis that began nearly two years ago when the first detailed reports emerged of an extensive secret Iranian nuclear program (see GSN, Dec. 13, 2002). In exchange for the suspension, the EU nations have reportedly agreed to stop the issue from moving beyond the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors, a body that could refer the matter to the U.N. Security Council. The United States has urged the board to do just that over a number of meetings in the past year, but yesterday’s agreement would probably wipe out that possibility, the Washington Post reported today. The administration might not even pursue its case at the board’s next meeting, scheduled to begin Nov. 25. “That’s a decision that will have to be made this week,” a U.S. official told the Post. “But I can’t imagine how anyone could argue to the president the tactical benefits of trying to do that again because the result would be U.S. diplomatic isolation.” Under the terms of yesterday’s agreement, Iran “has decided, on a voluntary basis, to continue and extend its suspension to include all enrichment related and reprocessing activities.” The agreement specifically bars “all tests or production at any uranium conversion installation,” an issue that has been the recent focus of the nuclear dispute. News accounts today reported that IAEA inspectors arrived Saturday in Iran on a previously scheduled trip, and would begin to seal and tag Iranian nuclear equipment. They planned to complete that work before the agency’s board meeting next week. Iran had previously agreed to a more general suspension of nuclear activities, but had interpreted that freeze in a way to allow continued work on converting uranium ore into a gaseous form usable in enrichment centrifuges. The U.N. agency reported today that Iran had processed more than 22 tons of uranium yellowcake this year (see GSN, Oct. 6). Yesterday’s agreement outlines the structure of future nuclear talks. A steering committee would meet in the first half of December and set up three working groups on political and security issues, technology and cooperation and nuclear issues. The EU nations have reportedly offered to improve trade and technical cooperation with Iran, and to provide a light-water nuclear power reactor, if Tehran agrees to permanently end its nuclear fuel cycle activities. IAEA Report The International Atomic Energy Agency circulated its quarterly report on Iran today, after delaying the release over the weekend for the impending EU-Iran agreement. While not providing large amounts of new information, the report offers a comprehensive description of Iran’s long-term effort to develop nuclear technology. “Iran has made substantial efforts over the past two decades to master an independent nuclear fuel cycle. To that end, Iran has conducted experiments to acquire the know-how for almost every aspect of that fuel cycle,” the report says. The Iranian effort has included uranium mining, ore conversion, uranium enrichment, fuel fabrication, heavy-water production and plutonium separation. The agency report praises Iran for opening its program to agency inspection, saying, “Since December 2003, Iran has facilitated in a timely manner agency access … to nuclear materials and facilities, as well as other locations in the country, and has permitted the agency to take environmental samples as requested by the agency.” That cooperation appears to have eased earlier suspicions that Iran had actually enriched uranium to high levels in its prototype facilities. Agency sampling there discovered traces of uranium containing up to 70 percent uranium 235. Weapon-grade uranium is generally described as containing more than 80 percent. Iran has contended that the uranium contamination was already present when it acquired enrichment centrifuges from a still-unidentified outside source — reportedly the nuclear smuggling network once headed by former top Pakistani nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan. The agency report concludes, “The environmental sampling data available to date tends, on balance, to support Iran’s statement about the origin of much of the contamination.” Despite this positive news for Iran, the agency report complains of past and continuing hindrances and ultimately judges that it cannot “conclude that there are no undeclared nuclear materials or activities in Iran.” Back to top       Osama Bin Laden Has Received Religious Backing for Possible Nuclear Attack, Former CIA Analyst Says Terrorist mastermind Osama bin Laden has received religious authority to use a nuclear weapon, were he to acquire one, in a terrorist attack, former CIA analyst Michael Scheuer said in an interview televised yesterday on CBS’ 60 Minutes (see GSN, Oct. 29). “(Bin Laden) secured from a Saudi sheik ... a rather long treatise on the possibility of using nuclear weapons against the Americans,” Scheuer said. The document, known as a fatwa, “found that he was perfectly within his rights to use them. Muslims argue that the United States is responsible for millions of dead Muslims around the world, so reciprocity would mean you could kill millions of Americans” (Agence France-Presse/Philippine Daily Inquirer, Nov. 15). Scheuer told 60 Minutes that he believes “it’s pretty close to being inevitable” that bin Laden would attempt a WMD attack against the United States. “A nuclear weapon of some dimension, whether it’s actually a nuclear weapon, or a dirty bomb, or some kind of radiological device. … Yes, I think it's probably a near thing,” he said (CBS News, Nov. 14). Meanwhile, an al-Qaeda operative recently captured in Pakistan has said that the terrorist organization has examined plans to move nuclear materials into the United States through Mexico, according to Time magazine. The account was provided by Sharif al-Masri, who was captured in August near Pakistan’s border with Iran and Afghanistan, according to a U.S. report. The report says that al-Masri told interrogators that al-Qaeda has considered plans to “smuggle nuclear materials to Mexico, then operatives would carry material into the U.S.,” according to Time. Reports from several captured al-Qaeda operatives indicate the potential for Mexico to be used as a staging area “to acquire chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear material,” Time reported. U.S. officials are increasing monitoring of heavy trucks crossing the U.S.-Mexican border, Time reported. In addition, Mexican officials plan to increase their monitoring of flight schools and aviation facilities (Adam Zagorin, Time, Nov. 14). Back to top       South Korean President Urges Return to Nuclear Talks The United States should continue using diplomacy in the effort to end the standoff over North Korea’s nuclear program, South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun said Saturday (see GSN, Nov. 12). “I’m saying here that there’s no other way than dialogue,” Roh said during a speech in Los Angeles while traveling to Chile for the two-day Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit beginning next Saturday, Reuters reported. The North Korean Foreign Ministry said Saturday that the U.S. media had incorrectly reported that Pyongyang was insisting on bilateral negotiations with Washington. “The D.P.R.K. does not feel any need to ask the United States for the bilateral talks as it is not ready to hold them,” the official KCNA news agency said. The comments signaled that Pyongyang was open to negotiating with the Bush administration, according to Reuters. “If the U.S. drops its hostile policy aimed at bringing down the system in the D.P.R.K. and opts for co-existing with the latter in practice, it will be quite possible to settle the issue,” it said (Rhee So-eui, Reuters, Nov. 13). The Asia-Pacific summit is expected to include opportunities for talks on the nuclear standoff between Roh, U.S. President George W. Bush, Chinese leader Hu Jintao and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, Agence France-Presse reported. Bush is expected to come under increased pressure to make greater overtures to Pyongyang, according to AFP.  “What I would hope for is that in this context, this becomes an opportunity for ... the leaders of these other countries to push on the Bush administration on being a little more flexible in these talks,” said Edward Lincoln, Asia and Economic Studies senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Washington offered concessions to North Korea during multilateral negotiations in June, and some experts believe it is unlikely to go further. “I think that the sense at this point is that the United States has given what it is going to give and it wants to see something in return,” said Elizabeth Economy, director of Asia Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations (Charles Whelan, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Nov. 14). Another group of experts, however, said today that Washington needs to give North Korea a better offer to persuade it to end its nuclear program, Reuters reported. The Brussels-based International Crisis Group said addressing Pyongyang’s nuclear program is an urgent priority and that other issues should be set aside until the standoff is resolved. “It almost certainly has enough bombs to deter an attack and still have some to sell to other states or even terrorist groups,” says the report. “The focus should remain on the nuclear issue, putting on hold other current policy concerns such as missile controls, human rights, reductions of conventional forces and economic reforms, important as they are in their own right, until this critical problem is resolved,” it says (Martin Nesirky, Reuters, Nov. 15). Back to top       Albuquerque N.M. Officials Worry About Nearby Nukes Officials in Albuquerque, N.M., are concerned about the large number of nuclear weapons believed to be stored at an Air Force base located on the outskirts of the city, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Oct. 7). The U.S. Defense Department maintains a policy of neither confirming nor denying the presence of nuclear weapons at U.S. military sites, including Kirtland Air Force Base, according to a base spokesman. According to a number of available sources, though, as many as 685 nuclear bombs and 1,825 warheads for use on various missiles are stored at the base, AP reported. The weapons stored at the base have prompted one member of the Albuquerque City Council to call for increased discussions between the city and the Pentagon as city officials conduct emergency planning, AP reported. There are many potential targets in the United States that would be easier for terrorists to strike than Kirtland Air Force Base, said Robert Norris, senior research associate at the Natural Resources Defense Council (Associated Press, Nov. 15). Back to top

Company Warns of Smallpox Vaccine Side Effects The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced Friday that a pharmaceutical company plans to place warnings on a smallpox vaccine that has been linked to heart inflammation, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Oct. 13). The black box warning from Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. is expected to say that some healthy adults have suffered acute myopericarditis after receiving the Dryvax vaccine. The company no longer manufactures or markets the smallpox vaccine, said Wyeth spokesman Doug Petkus. Nearly 15 million doses provided to the U.S. government attacks had been in storage since the 1980s. Some 13 million doses remain in the stockpile of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to AP. The warnings apply to vaccines that Wyeth repackaged for use by first responders in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, AP reported. The Defense Department has warned about the Dryvax side effect since April 2003, according to Col. John Grabenstein, deputy director for military vaccine at the Army Surgeon General’s Office. There were 67 cases of myopericarditis among the 540,824 military personnel who received Dryvax in 2002 and 2003 during the Defense Department’s vaccination program,. AP reported. Another 21 cases were found in vaccinated civilians as of May 9, 2003. “This is not a new finding. This is paperwork catching up with an old finding,” Grabenstein said, adding that people who experience the side effect tend to get better quickly. “Their recovery is very good,” he said (Diedtra Henderson, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 12). Back to top

Sixth Missile Interceptor Installed at Alaska Base Technicians installed a sixth missile interceptor Thursday at Fort Greely, Alaska, completing the initial round of interceptors set to be deployed at the site, U.S. military officials said Friday (see GSN, Oct. 13). At least 10 additional interceptors are expected to be later deployed at Fort Greely as part of U.S. missile defense efforts, according to the Associated Press. There are also plans to install four interceptors at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Nov. 12). Back to top       U.S. Election to Force Canadian Defense Decision A second term in office for U.S. President George W. Bush is putting pressure on Canada to decide whether to join the U.S. missile defense program, the Washington Post reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 10). “I think this is one issue they would have liked to have skipped,” Gordon O’Connor, a Conservative Party member of Parliament, said of Prime Minister Paul Martin’s Liberal Party. Experts have said Bush is unlikely to push for a decision during a planned visit to Ottawa, which is expected before his January inauguration, according to the Post. The issue, however, has received renewed attention in Canada. “There’s an influential community that wants Canada to reassert itself as the United States’ best friend, a position we lost to the United Kingdom,” said Michael Byers, a security expert at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. “There’s a desire to make up, in effect, for the refusal to go along with the Iraq war.” Missile defense supporters emphasize Canadian-U.S. cooperation in the North American Aerospace Defense Command, arguing that Canada must continue to participate in decisions pertaining to defense of the continent. “Do we want the Americans to go ahead with something to defend North America that we’re not going to participate in?” Defense Minister Bill Graham said in September. Opponents, however, have said the plan is technologically unsound, expensive and based on outdated threat assessments.  “There are places we should be cooperating with the United States, but this is way down on the list,” said John Polanyi, a University of Toronto chemist and Nobel laureate. Some experts have said the internal debate in Canada is unlikely to have much effect because Washington can implement missile defense whether or not Ottawa joins. Last summer, Canada began allowing the joint U.S.-Canada NORAD operations center in Colorado to share incoming missile information with U.S. Northern Command. “From a technical perspective, Canada is already in,” said Byers. “It has made the decision to cooperate to the degree necessary to let it go forward.” (Doug Struck, Washington Post, Nov. 14).   Back to top

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