U.S. diplomatic cables reveal nuclear proliferation fears

The WikiLeaks cables have revealed that the United States has consistently rebuffed private appeals from the leaders of Arab states and Israel on the need for military action against Iran over its nuclear program, as successive administrations worked on a package of global economic sanctions.

The initial leak of 240 U.S. diplomatic cables from a total 251,000 provided to five newspapers in the UK, US, Germany, France and Spain contained the following information related to nuclear non-proliferation issues:

Iran

America’s diplomatic secrets go public

“If you hang around with diplomats, they might be smiling to you, on the one hand, while at the same time, they're stabbing you in the back. It's reassuring because they are sticking to the same talking points in private and in public, whether they're talking to government officials or to journalists or to non-government organizations.”

Anne Penketh, BASIC's Program Director, was interviewed about the WikiLeaks dump of U.S. cables with Michael Shire of the National Journal and Susan Glasser of Foreign Policy on WAMU radio.

New START Treaty hanging in Senate limbo

“The administration doesn’t want the whole thing to be reopened when they’ve already gone through 20 briefings, they’ve already answered 900 questions for the record,”Anne Penketh, BASIC's program director in Washington, told the Epoch Times.

Read the full article here: http://www.theepochtimes.com/n2/content/view/46462/

Iran Update: Number 147

Iran-P5+1 negotiations likely within next few weeks
IAEA releases new report as Iran clashes with IAEA, questions neutrality
Iran experiencing more problems with centrifuges
International sanctions regim

Nato’s tactical nuclear weapons: the new doctrine

Nato's new strategic concept was described as a “conservative, backward-looking” document and “a missed opportunity” in a joint statement issued by BASIC and the Arms Control Association. To read more click here:

NATO unveils Strategic Concept

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has unveiled its policy documents charting the way ahead for the Alliance over the next 10 years. The Strategic Concept, covering NATO doctrine on nuclear and conventional defence and security strategy, was released on November 19th. The Lisbon summit Declaration, on how the Alliance will implement the principles laid down in the Strategic Concept, came out the following day.

Obama: NATO to erect missile shield for Europe

“In an astonishing demonstration of weakness, NATO heads of state have failed to tackle the Cold War legacy of the deployment of U.S. nuclear gravity bombs in Europe, threatening the credibility of NATO members’ claims to be interested in non-proliferation and global disarmament.”

NATO summit as platform for US-Russia reSTART

“If it is stalled, then clearly it will harm the prospects for future negotiations that follow, that use this as a foundation for the next round. It will be impossible to have another round of arms control negotiations, as such. If that treaty comes up for ratification on the floor of the Senate, it will pass. The debate is when it comes up for votes.”