CND's Press Round-Up - 4th May 2021

Posted: 4th May 2021

Dear all,

Please find today’s press round up below. Thank you to all for their continued help and support.

Nuclear Weapons

Conflicting reports on confidence building prisoner exchanges between Iran and the U.S. point to Iranian political turmoil, whilst China unveils a new, more advanced nuclear submarine.

Iran Nuclear Deal Talks
 
U.S. authorities have denied that a prisoner swap has been agreed with Iran, after state television in the latter said this would happen. According to Reuters,Iranian television reported on Sunday that four Americans imprisoned in Iran would be freed in return for the release of four Iranians held in the U.S. and $7 billion dollars in frozen oil funds.

However, senior U.S. officials were quick to deny in public any prisoner exchange had been agreed, and Iran’s Foreign Ministry said much the same. Al Jazeera speculates that the contradictory statements from different parts of the Iranian state apparatus might reflect power struggles between perceived ‘moderates’ around President Hassan Rouhani and ‘hardliners’ in the Iranian media and points out Press TV has come under direct, public criticism from Iran’s chief negotiator at the Vienna talks.
 
 
Chinese Nuclear Submarines
 
The South China Morning Post reports Chinese sources are briefing that the country’s newly-commissioned nuclear powered submarine can fire missiles (including nuclear-armed ones) which can hit targets right across the continental United States. The new submarine was unveiled on Friday as part of anniversary celebrations for the People’s Liberation Army. The range of its Julang submarine-launched ballistic missile is 10,000 km, Chinese state sources claim. The new submarine class is substantially quieter than its predecessor, which would make it easier to slip past U.S. anti-submarine systems in the Pacific.
The right-wing U.S. journal The National Interest also carries a piece on China’s nuclear-powered submarine programme,  including a useful potted history of its expansion.


Anti-war

The U.S. begins the final withdrawal of its forces from Afghanistan, while the family of British woman Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe point the finger at the shadowy UK arms trade for her continued imprisonment in Iran.

U.S. Withdrawal from Afghanistan 
 
The final round of U.S. and NATO troop withdrawals began on Saturday, according to the Associated Press. Somewhere between 2,500 and 3,500 U.S. soldiers and 7,000 NATO soldiers are set to leave the country by the end of the summer. The U.S. is estimated to have spent $2 trillion dollars on its war in Afghanistan, since it invaded nearly twenty years ago. The Taliban currently controls nearly half of the country and is expected to launch an offensive once Western forces depart.  
 
UK Arms Trade with Iran
 
The Declassified UK website carried a long piece on Saturday by Richard Ratcliffe, husband of the imprisoned Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe. In it, he argues that the imposition of a new sentence on his wife is caused in part by a long-standing dispute over a 1970s arms deal between the UK and Iran. Prior to the fall of the Shah, his regime purchased a consignment of tanks from International Military Services, a state-owned company which promotes British arms sales abroad. After the Revolution, no tanks were delivered but the payment was not returned to Iran. Despite Iran obtaining a final court judgement in London in 2009, the UK government continues to prevaricate on the payment of the debt, which now stands at several hundred million pounds. Ratcliffe concludes by saying that ‘As the UK avoids protesting to governments who are potential or actual arms customers, cases like Nazanin’s will become more commonplace’.

Nuclear Power

Nuclear Power-UK
 
Local press reports on opposition to a bid for a prototype nuclear fusion reactor at the Aberthaw site near Barry in South Wales. Vale of Glamorgan Council submitted the bid as part of a UK AEA competition which closed in March, but councillors from Plaid Cymru have criticised the move. The siting of the prototype plant is due to be decided by the end of this year.  


With best wishes,

Michael Muir

Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament