CND's Press Round-Up - 22nd April 2021
Posted: 22nd April 2021
Dear all,
Please find today’s press round up below. Thank you to all for their continued help and support.
Nuclear Weapons
A senior U.S. military official has claimed that Chinese and Russian nuclear expansion and modernisation programmes are outstripping in pace those of the U.S, whilst progress continues to be reported from the talks in Vienna, with Iran saying uranium enrichment programme can be rapidly reversed.
U.S. Nuclear ‘Modernisation’ Anxieties
The head of the U.S. Strategic Command, the body which includes oversight of the U.S. nuclear weapons programme in its remit has said that Russia and China are modernising their nuclear capabilities more quickly than the U.S. is, according to CNN. Admiral Charles Richard told a congressional hearing that China’s currently small nuclear arsenal was going through an ‘unprecedented expansion’. At present, China is estimated to have around 320 nuclear warheads, compared to the 1,550 deployed weapons that the New START allows Russia and the U.S. each.
Iran Nuclear Deal Talks
Enrique Mora, the EU representative at the talks in Vienna, has said that progress continues to be made as a third working group to ‘address sequencing issues’ was created, according to Reuters. A U.S. State Department spokesperson is quoted as saying that ‘We probably have more road ahead of us than we do behind us at this stage’. Iran has been keen to point out its decision to enrich uranium to 60% purity is quickly reversible.
U.S. ‘Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent’ Renewal
On the website of Forbes magazine, Matt Korda urges the Biden administration to pause the renewal of the Ground-Based Strategic Deterrent. The renewal programme is currently expected to cost $100 billion and would provide ground-based nuclear weapons for the U.S. till 2075. Korda argues that ‘considering that today, the greatest threats to Americans’ collective safety are non-militarized phenomena like public health crises, climate change, and extreme wealth disparities, Joe Biden should seriously consider whether brand-new ICBMs are the best tool––or even a useful one––to keep Americans safe.’
Anti-war
The U.S’s Special Envoy makes provocative claims about the Iranian role in the Yemeni conflict, signalling that the Biden administration’s ‘recalibration’ of relations with Saudi Arabia seems to have been delayed if not cancelled, whilst Russia sets out plans to withdraw from the International Space Station.
War in Yemen
U.S Special Envoy for Yemen Tim Lenderking described the Houthi movement’s offensive in the Marib region as ‘the biggest single threat to peace efforts’ in testimony before Congress, according to Al Jazeera. Lenderking also raised the chimerical threat of Houthi attacks in ‘potentially other countries’ beyond Saudi Arabia, which invaded Yemen in 2015. An Iranian government press spokesperson said ‘Iran has, time and again called for a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Yemen. In contrast, the US has been providing the deadliest weapons to those who are using them to kill innocent men, women and children on a daily basis.’ Tariq Ali has a brief but comprehensive overview of the Yemen crisis on the New Left Review website here.
Great Power Relations in Space
Russia is giving serious consideration to leaving the International Space Station and building its own, according to the Guardian. The head of the Roscosmos space agency is quoted as saying that the Russian space-station could be put into orbit by 2030. Russia and the U.S. have worked together on the International Space Station since 1998, one of the few remaining areas of close cooperation. The Russian deputy prime minister has said that the Russian station would also artificial intelligence and robots.
Climate Change
Fossil Fuel ‘Non-Proliferation’
In an open letter to international political leaders, 101 Nobel Prize laureates have called for a non-proliferation treaty for fossil fuels to be implemented, the Guardian reports. The treaty would end the expansion of the coal, oil and gas industries and ‘phase out existing production’. It would additionally re-direct investment into developing renewable technology for use throughout the world. The full letter with signatories can be found here.
With best wishes,
Michael Muir
Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament