Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today accused informants of leaking details on Iran’s nuclear program (Atta Kenare/Getty Images). Iranian Leader Defies Nuclear Pressure Iran will not “back down an inch” in the international stalemate over its nuclear program, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today during an address in Tehran (see GSN, Feb. 8). Iran has insisted its nuclear program is intended only for civilian power production, but world powers have suspected that a number of Iranian programs are aimed at developing a nuclear weapon. “Thanks to God, the Iranian nuclear dossier has been closed.  The enemies of the Iranian revolution can only play with pieces of paper.  They can do nothing more,” he said, Agence France-Presse reported.  “They (the world powers) should not make another blunder by voting a new resolution against Iran.”..Full Story

ElBaradei Warns of Nuclear Terror Warning of a “world in disarray,” top U.N. nuclear official Mohamed ElBaradei on Saturday urged nations to step their efforts to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism (see GSN, Sept. 18, 2007)...Full Story

North Korean Military Might Get Denuclearization Oil Some of the heavy fuel oil intended to reward North Korea for its moves toward denuclearization is possibly being put to use by the nation’s military, the Yonhap News Agency reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 8)...Full Story

	Monday, February 11, 2008

Iranian Leader Defies Nuclear Pressure Iran will not “back down an inch” in the international stalemate over its nuclear program, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said today during an address in Tehran (see GSN, Feb. 8). Iran has insisted its nuclear program is intended only for civilian power production, but world powers have suspected that a number of Iranian programs are aimed at developing a nuclear weapon. “Thanks to God, the Iranian nuclear dossier has been closed.  The enemies of the Iranian revolution can only play with pieces of paper.  They can do nothing more,” he said, Agence France-Presse reported.  “They (the world powers) should not make another blunder by voting a new resolution against Iran.” Ahmadinejad also accused elements inside Iran of disclosing information on Tehran’s nuclear activities to an unnamed European ambassador. “Unfortunately there are some in this country who consider themselves to be its owner and want to control everything,” he said.  “In the nuclear case, there are some who unfortunately who went to [the] enemy and encouraged the enemy.  They gave them the information from inside the country.” The European envoy had convinced Iranian informants of his neutrality in the nuclear standoff, Ahmadinejad said. “Unfortunately some have gone along with him … not based on an ignorance of information but on a vendetta against the people,” he said. Ahmadinejad also announced plans to fire two rockets into space within the next several months after the launch of one such rocket earlier this month (see GSN, Feb. 7).  Tehran hopes to launch its first indigenously produced satellite into orbit this summer, the Iranian leader said (Agence France-Presse I/Google News, Feb. 11). Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush said his administration has made progress in convincing Gulf nations that Iran poses a threat and that international sanctions are effectively pressuring the Middle Eastern nation. “In my trip in the Middle East, I made it abundantly clear to nervous nations that Iran is a threat,” Bush said in a Fox News interview aired yesterday.  “I think I made pretty good headway in the Middle East that Iran is a threat.” The United States has led a campaign to impose a third round of U.N. Security Council sanctions on Iran for its refusal to halt its uranium enrichment program, which could produce a nuclear weapon ingredient.  The effort has seemingly been hindered by a controversial late-2007 U.S. intelligence assessment that Tehran halted its nuclear-weapon work in 2003. “I feel pretty good about making sure that we keep the pressure on Iran to pressure them so they understand they’re isolated, to pressure them to affect their economy, to pressure them to the point that we hope somebody rational shows up and says, OK, it's not worth it anymore,” Bush said. “There are some indications we're making progress.  The economy isn’t doing as well,” he said (Agence France-Presse II/Google News, Feb. 10). Elsewhere, a high-level Israeli official said Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert would push for stronger punitive measures against Iran during a visit to Germany this week. “Israel believes that this is the time for more pressure on the regime in Tehran.  It's time to upgrade the economic and diplomatic pressure,” the official said.  Olmert’s trip began yesterday. “This has to be done, obviously, at the United Nations, but also bilaterally,” the official said, adding that countries with strong financial ties to Tehran should “exert their own pressure.” (Jeffrey Heller, Reuters/Washington Post, Feb. 10). Back to top       ElBaradei Warns of Nuclear Terror Warning of a “world in disarray,” top U.N. nuclear official Mohamed ElBaradei on Saturday urged nations to step their efforts to reduce the threat of nuclear terrorism (see GSN, Sept. 18, 2007). He also called on the nuclear-weapon powers to speed their disarmament activities, but primarily stressed the risk of nuclear-weapon materials falling into nonstate hands, the Los Angeles Times reported. “This, to me, is the most danger we are facing today.  Because any country, even if they have nuclear weapons, would continue to have a rational approach," the International Atomic Energy Agency chief told a security conference in Munich.  “They know if they use a nuclear weapon, they will be pulverized.  For an extremist group, there is no concept of deterrence.  If they have it, they will use it.” Global economic conditions contribute to the threat of nuclear terror, ElBaradei said. “We still live in a world where we have 2 billion who live on under $2 a day, one-third of our fellow beings. … We have 20,000 people who die every day because they are too poor to live.  The sanctity of human life — are we really serious about the sanctity of human life?” he asked. ElBaradei suggested that the pace of nuclear reductions undertaken by Russia and the United States sends the wrong message to developing nations. “It's not sustainable," he said.  “The nuclear technology is out of the tube, completely out of the tube.  We have seen now that any country with an average industrial infrastructure can develop the know-how to develop a nuclear weapon. … We have to show the way that we are making good on our commitment to move toward nuclear disarmament,” he said (Kim Murphy, Los Angeles Times, Feb. 10). High-level U.S. and Russian officials attending the conference joked that ElBaradei was singing an old song. “Everyone pokes his finger at you and us, we are responsible for everything,” said Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov during a joint appearance with U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates. “As usual, some things never change," Gates said. “Cold War, no Cold War, no gain," Ivanov replied (Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, Feb. 9). Their meeting may not have been entirely rosy, however, as Ivanov yesterday pressed the United States to follow Russia’s lead to adopt more multilateral nuclear-weapon reduction treaties. Russian officials have recently criticized the United States for dragging its feet in talks to extend provisions of the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which is due to expire in December 2009 (see GSN, Feb. 4). “It is imperative to ensure that the provisions of such a regime should be legally binding so that, in due course, it would really become possible to shift to the control over nuclear weapons and the process of their gradual reduction on a multilateral basis," he said. Including more nations "is the essence of our proposals related to the antimissile defense and to the intermediate and short-range missiles,” Ivanov added (see GSN, Oct. 12, 2007; David Rising, Associated Press/Google News, Feb. 10). Back to top       North Korean Military Might Get Denuclearization Oil Some of the heavy fuel oil intended to reward North Korea for its moves toward denuclearization is possibly being put to use by the nation’s military, the Yonhap News Agency reported yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 8). Pyongyang has received more than 100,000 tons of oil from other nations in the six-party talks on its nuclear program (see GSN, Feb. 7).  The fuel has come as the energy-starved nation has halted operations at its Yongbyon nuclear complex and worked to disable three key atomic facilities. North Korea would ultimately receive 1 million tons of oil or equivalent energy aid, along with diplomatic and security benefits, for fully shuttering its nuclear programs.  The Stalinist state this winter has significantly increased military ground and air maneuvers.  Sources have questioned how Pyongyang obtained fuel for the training, with one suggesting the source might be the other nations’ oil (Yonhap News Agency, Feb. 10). Japanese Foreign Minister Masahiko Komura said Saturday his nation remains concerned about the nuclear proliferation threat posed by North Korea, Agence France-Presse reported. “The North Korean issues have made the regional security environment extremely difficult since the beginning of the 1990s,” he said during an international security conference in Munich.  “The international community must continue to be united in demanding that North Korea provide ‘a complete and correct declaration’ of all its nuclear programs, including nuclear weapons.” The disarmament process has faltered while the six-party states wait for North Korea to provide a full accounting of its nuclear programs.  The deadline for the document passed Dec. 31 and the United States said a list issued in November failed to address all of Pyongyang’s suspected atomic activities (Agence France-Presse I/Spacewar.com, Feb. 10). Meanwhile, the incoming South Korean government appears set to reverse plans to eliminate the Unification Ministry as a stand-alone agency, AFP reported.  The ministry would be maintained under a “tentative agreement” reached Friday by President-elect Lee Myung-bak’s transition team and an opposition party, according to the Yonhap News Agency. The Unification Ministry has been Pyongyang’s primary supporter when it needed economic aid from Seoul.  Its elimination could slow progress in the denuclearization effort, one expert said last month (Agence France-Presse II/NASDAQ.com, Feb. 8). Back to top       Nuclear Smuggler Khan to Remain Unavailable to Western Questioners, Pakistani Official Says Western nations should back off their efforts to question the former head of Pakistan’s nuclear program, now under house arrest for his role as ringleader of an international nuclear smuggling network, a current program official told the McClatchy News Service (see GSN, Sept. 27, 2007). “It is a dead horse that has been beaten, flogged, many times over,” said retired Lt. Gen. Khalid Kidwai, chief of Pakistan's nuclear-weapons program. Still, nuclear nonproliferation experts have said that former nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan has much more to tell about his smuggling activities. “I don't think anyone feels confident the A.Q. Khan network was put to sleep.  We can't trust the Pakistanis to be forthcoming on this issue because they haven't been," said Christine Fair, with the RAND Corp.  “He's got 30 years-plus not as a rogue actor but as a state actor.  So they are not going to let anyone talk to him.” The Bush administration has “basically accepted [Pakistani] President [Pervez] Musharraf's argument that we cannot have access to A.Q. Khan because it would further destabilize his government,” added Jon Wolfsthal of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  “The political decision has been made that we need Musharraf … more than we need to get access to Khan” (Tim Johnson, McClatchy News Service/Raleigh, N.C., News and Observer, Feb. 10). Back to top       North Korea Might Not Disarm, McCain Says U.S. Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.), front-runner for the Republican nomination for president, has questioned North Korea’s willingness to surrender its nuclear weapons under a six-party disarmament deal, the Associated Press reported Saturday (see GSN, Oct. 16, 2007). It remains uncertain whether Pyongyang would follow through on its 2007 denuclearization agreement, McCain said.  In a recent article for Foreign Affairs magazine, he said nuclear negotiators “must take into account North Korea's ballistic missile programs, its abduction of Japanese citizens and its support for terrorism and proliferation.” Missile defenses are necessary to curb the threat posed by the Stalinist state and other “rogue regimes” that could target the United States with ballistic missiles, the senator says on his Web site, adding that the U.S. missile shield could “hedge against potential threats from possible strategic competitors like Russia and China.” McCain has also demanded transparency from China over its military buildup along the Taiwan Strait (see GSN, Jan. 2).  U.S. officials “must take note” when Beijing “threatens democratic Taiwan with a massive arsenal of missiles and warlike rhetoric,” he said in Foreign Affairs. The United States has suggested it would take military action to defend Taiwan from an invasion by China, which considers the island to be part of its territory (Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Feb. 9). Back to top

Pentagon to Use New Smallpox Vaccine The U.S. Defense Department is preparing to use a new vaccine to safeguard military personnel against smallpox infection, the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy reported Friday (see GSN, Sept. 4, 2007). The Pentagon has provided more than 1.2 million vaccinations to armed services members and contractors using the Dryvax vaccine, which is grown on calves’ skin.  However, the expiration date is quickly approaching for the agency’s stockpile of the treatment. “All Dryvax vials will expire on 29 February 2008 and logistics personnel will be required to destroy all unused vaccine,” Air Force Maj. Gen. Thomas Loftus stated in a Jan. 31 memo. The Defense Department’s vaccines program said on Feb. 1 that it intends to begin staff training on the replacement ACAM2000 treatment, which is produced in laboratory cell cultures, “as soon as possible.” While smallpox has been eliminated in nature, it is considered to be among the top bioterrorism threats.  Russia and the United States are both known to maintain virus stockpiles. The new vaccine has been found to be generally as safe as its predecessor and did not show an increase in major side effects, CIDRAP reported.  ACAM2000 has been found to cause itching, lymph-node swelling, arm soreness, fever, headaches, body aches, mild rash and fatigue in some recipients. While a first-time vaccination with Dryvax required three jabs, the new treatment requires 15.  The shelf life for ACAM2000 is also 30 days after it undergoes reconstitution with a solution, as opposed to 90 days for Dryvax. British drug maker Acambis as of last August had provided 192.5 million doses of ACAM2000 to the Health and Human Services Department, which is placing the vaccine in the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile.  The Pentagon is drawing its supply of the vaccine from the stockpile (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy release, Feb. 8). Back to top

U.S. Considers New North Korean Missile Threat The United States is assessing the tactical implications of a North Korean solid-fuel missile believed to be capable of carrying chemical weapons, the Yonhap News Agency reported today (see GSN, Oct. 11, 2007). North Korea unveiled the KN-02 at a military parade in April 2007, but Pyongyang has test-fired the surface-to-surface missile 12 times since 2004. A modified version of the Soviet short-range SS-21, it can be fired from a mobile launcher and is thought to be capable of delivering chemical agent warheads with its 1,100-pound payload.  Its solid fuel enables it to be prepared for launch faster than other North Korean weapons, according to sources.  The missile is also believed to be more accurate than its longer-range counterparts. U.S. military officials have nicknamed the missile “Doksa,” which translates to “venomous cobra.”  The name “was intended to reflect what the U.S. saw as the potential threat from the new North Korean missiles,” one source said. Gen. Burwell Bell, commander of U.S. military forces in Korea, told U.S. lawmakers in 2007 that the KN-02 is designed to hit targets in South Korea.  Its range of less than 75 miles distinguishes it from North Korea’s longer-range Rodong and Taepodong missiles, which are believed to target Japan and the United States (Yonhap News Agency, Feb. 11). Back to top

Putin Warns of Arms Race As he prepares to leave office, Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said his nation is embroiled in a new arms race and lashed out again at U.S. missile defense plans for Europe, the Associated Press reported (see GSN, Feb. 8). Russia intends to upgrade its military and weaponry in order to counter inclusion of former Soviet block states in NATO, Putin said. The arms race “is not our fault because we did not start it,” said Putin, who is expected to become Russian prime minister assuming his chosen successor, First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, wins the March 2 presidential election. He added that Western powers have dismissed Russia’s grievances about the proposed missile shield, which would place 10 interceptors in Poland and a radar base in the Czech Republic.  Compromise plans offered by both Moscow and Washington have failed to find traction in the other capital.  “We haven't seen any real steps toward compromise,” Putin said. NATO said the Russian leader’s confrontational remarks were unwarranted. “I don’t think it’s fair to say we don’t hear Russian concerns, and I might add that NATO countries want as much as possible to meet those concerns, but we have to, of course, take into account the interest and security of NATO countries as well,” said spokesman James Appathurai. Washington maintains that the missile shield would be part of a worldwide system to defend against missile attacks by nations such as Iran and North Korea.  U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey called the shield “a small and limited system, defensive in nature, [which] poses absolutely no threat to Russia’s strategic interests” (Mike Eckel, Associated Press I/Google News, Feb. 8). U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said he believes Moscow remains open to a compromise on the proposed defenses after he discussed the project with a senior Russian official Saturday. Gates expressed optimism about continuing the missile shield talks after meeting with Russian First Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov on the sidelines of a security conference in Munich. “Regardless of what’s said in public, I think there is still an interest (in Moscow) in pursuing the dialogue, and we are doing that,” Gates said (Robert Burns, Associated Press II/International Herald Tribune, Feb. 9). Back to top

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