EU Affirms Iran Deal Compliance, Rejects Renegotiation

By Kelsey Davenport

The writer is director for nonproliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. This article first appeared on September 21, 2017. – The Editor.

WASHINGTION, D.C. (IDN-INPS) – EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini stated unequivocally after a ministerial meeting between the P5+1 (China, France Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) and Iran that all parties agreed that the nuclear deal is being fully implemented and there are no violations.

She said that the agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), is delivering on its purpose, and there is “no need to renegotiate parts of the agreement.” Mogherini said that issues outside the scope of the deal should be “tackled in different formats, in different fora.”

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Sri Lanka Criticised for Not Signing the UN Nuke Ban Treaty

By J Nastranis

NEW YORK | COLOMBO (IDN) – Sri Lanka has refrained from signing the landmark UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons that was adopted by 122 countries on July 7, 2017 and opened for signature on September 20 at the UN headquarters in New York.

The decision not to sign the Treaty has triggered questions and concern at home and abroad. “Sri Lanka voted for the resolution adopting this very same Treaty [. . .], when we had a different Foreign Minister and Foreign Secretary. Has there now been a change of policy after a new minister assumed office?,” wonders the Friday Forum, a think tank based in Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka.

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Reminiscing ‘War Criminal’ McNamara as Trump Spits Out ‘Fire and Fury’ on North Korea

Viewpoint by Jonathan Power*

LUND, Sweden (IDN-INPS) – Out of the blue the war in Vietnam is in the news. Yet it is not the fiftieth anniversary of America’s defeat in Vietnam when North Vietnam caused it to flee. It’s only the forty-second.

Part of this must be fearful parallels with the moral and strategic blindness of President Donald Trump who seems to believe in uttering his life and death rhetoric, akin to President Richard Nixon’s on Vietnam, hoping to frighten the enemy into submission – in this case North Korea. Many people are worried that Trump is ready to fight America’s biggest war since Vietnam. As did Henry Kissinger, Nixon’s National Security Advisor, he appears to be considering the use of nuclear weapons.

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Opening for Signature of the UN Treaty a Milestone for Prohibiting Nuclear Weapons

国联条约开放供签署，为禁止核武器立下里程碑（联合国裁军事务高级代表和大使Sergio Duarte）

【联合国（IDN)＝Sergio Duarte】

9月20日在纽约，禁止核武器合约的开放供签署是国际社会长期致力于消除人类发明的最具毁灭性，最残忍武器的一个里程碑性事件。

这项合约的谈判进程广泛牵动着各界关注，并得到来自民间社会组织强烈的支持。恰恰反映出全球越来越多的人意识到禁止核武器是以实现和维持一个无核世界为目标的行动框架中不可缺少的组成部分。这份合约不是为了仓促应对核裁军问题上长期缺乏进展现状或者出于人道主义的关心而进行的临时运动。相反，这是对人类社会长期愿望的响应。

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Ulaanbaatar Conference Stresses the Role of Individual States in Nuclear Disarmament Process

｜ウランバートル会議｜核軍縮プロセスで個々の国家の役割を強調

【ニューヨーク／ウランバートルIDN＝ジャムシェッド・バルーア】

国際連合安全保障理事会（安保理）は、これまでで最大規模の核実験（通算６回目）に踏み切った朝鮮民主主義人民共和国（DPRK）に対して、全会一致で制裁強化に合意する一方、６か国協議の再開を呼びかけた。

中国・北朝鮮・日本・韓国・ロシア・米国による多国間協議を訴えることで、１５カ国から成る安保理は「朝鮮半島情勢に対する、平和的、外交的、政治的解決へのコミットメント」を表明した。

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UN Panel Remains Sceptical about Sanctions on North Korea

国連パネル、北朝鮮制裁に懐疑的

【ベルリン／ニューヨークIDN＝ラメシュ・ジャウラ】

国連安全保障理事会（安保理）は、朝鮮民主主義人民共和国（DPRK）に対する従来で最も厳しい制裁措置に全会一致で合意する６日前、これまでの制裁措置の履行について明るい見通しとは程遠い内容の報告書を受け取っていた。

この報告書は、国連安保理北朝鮮制裁委員会の専門家パネル（国連専門家パネル）が９月５日に安保理に提出したものである。報告書は、「制裁措置は厳格に履行されておらず、北朝鮮による制裁回避もますます巧妙になっており、同国の大量破壊兵器を廃棄し全ての関連する事業・活動を停止するよう求める国連安保理決議の目標は損なわれている。」と指摘している。

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Conference Calls for Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Becoming International Law

By Jamshed Baruah

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – “A CTBT that is in force would be a milestone on the road to a world free of nuclear weapons. It has the potential to prevent a nuclear arms race and an escalation of regional and bilateral tensions,” said UN Secretary-General António Guterres. He was referring to the Comprehensive Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) that bans nuclear testing on the Earth’s surface, in the atmosphere, underwater, and underground.

“Make no mistake: we need this Treaty,” said Miroslav Lajcák, President of the UN General Assembly. “I applaud the CTBT Preparatory Commission for raising awareness about the dangers associated with testing and for its partnership with the United Nations,” added Guterres.

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Ascoltiamo le voci delle e degli hibakusha che chiedono a tutti gli stati di firmare il Trattato sulla Messa al Bando delle Armi Nucleari

di Daisaku Ikeda, Presidente della Soka Gakkai Internazionale

Tokyo (IDN) – Il Trattato sulla Messa al Bando delle Armi Nucleari, approvato alle Nazioni Unite lo scorso luglio, sarà presto aperto alla firma. Quasi due terzi degli stati membri delle Nazioni Unite hanno preso parte ai negoziati che hanno dato vita a questo trattato, ed è molto commovente assistere ai primi passi concreti verso la sua entrata in vigore. Spero ardentemente che i 122 stati che ne hanno sostenuto l’adozione saranno affiancati da altri che lo sottoscriveranno, così da potere diventare legge internazionale nel più breve tempo possibile.

Ascoltiamo le voci delle e degli hibakusha che chiedono a tutti gli stati di firmare il Trattato sulla Messa al Bando delle Armi NucleariRead More »

Kazakhstan Plans a Summit of Nuclear Weapon States with an Eye on a Nuke-free World

By Kairat Abdrakhmanov, Kazakhstan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs

Following are extensive excerpts from Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov’s address to the United Nations General Assembly on September 21, 2017 in New York. He draws attention to President Nursultan Nazarbayev’s initiative “to convene a summit of all states possessing nuclear weapons to collectively discuss further steps towards their nuclear disarmament and attaining nuclear-weapon-free world,” and “to call for joint efforts to ensure that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons enters into force by 2020″, the 50th anniversary of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons entering into force.” – The Editor

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U.S. State Secretary Lauds Kazakh Decision to Renounce Nukes

UNITED NATIONS (IDN) – “The Republic of Kazakhstan is a particularly illustrative example of the wisdom of relinquishing nuclear weapons,” according to Rex W. Tillerson, the U.S. Secretary of State. He was addressing the United Nations Security Council Session on Nuclear Non-Proliferation on September 21, 2017.

“In partnership with the United States, and aided by the Cooperative Threat Reduction Act spearheaded by U.S. Senators Sam Nunn and Richard Lugar, Kazakhstan opted to remove from its territory former Soviet weapons and related nuclear technologies, and joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty as a non-weapons state,” Tillerson added.

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