CND's Press Round-Up - 1st June 2021
Posted: 1st June 2021
Dear all,
Please find today’s press round up below. Thank you to all for their continued help and support.
Nuclear Weapons
The IAEA has said it lacks more data than previously thought in regards to its monitoring of Iran, while a report by Bellingcat has revealed serious security breaches in U.S. nuclear bases in Europe and BBC Wales reports on the human impact of British nuclear testing.
Iran Nuclear Deal
In a confidential report sent out to members state yesterday, the International Atomic Energy Agency said that it had not been able to access key data on nuclear facilities in Iran since February and was thus only able to estimate the size of Iran’s current nuclear material stockpile. The Guardian reports that this is the first time that it has been confirmed in the public domain that Iran’s withdrawal from IAEA extended not only to facility cameras, but also enrichment monitors, electronic seals and measurement devices too. As part of the 2014 JCPoA, the IAEA placed c.2,000 tamper-proof seals on nuclear material and equipment in the country.
U.S. Nuclear Security Breaches
The Daily Star carries an article, following on from the work of the ‘open source’ journalism website Bellingcat, which says that U.S. military personnel have accidentally been putting the location of U.S. nuclear-armed bases in Europe and other state secrets on the internet. Bellingcat has said the information, recovered from a mobile app, was so precise it allowed the position of cameras and the times of security patrols to be identified. The data has subsequently been removed. The full detailed report from Bellingcat can be found here.
UK Nuclear Testing
BBC Wales has a report examining the impact of British nuclear testing in the 1950s and 1960s on veterans, through the prism of one Welsh former soldier who suffered a range of health conditions in the years afterwards. Flight Lieutenant David Purse’s children also suffered from health problems, including minor birth deformities. Around 40,000 British soliders were involved in nuclear testing in the South Pacific and Australia.
NATO
The diplomatic fallout from revelations of Danish complicity in U.S. interception programmes continues, with the promise of parliamentary inquiry and non-commital statements from Macron and Merkel.
U.S. Spying in Europe
Al Jazeera reports that the leaders of France and Germany have reacted with anger to the revelation that Denmark assisted the United States in accessing cable communications in Sweden, Norway, France and Germany during Barack Obama’s presidency. Opposition politicians in the German SPD were also targeted by the U.S. National Security Agency. A report by state broadcasting corporation Danmarks Radio found that the Defence Intelligence Service helped the U.S. intercept phone calls, text messages and internet chats between 2012 and 2014.
Anti-War
The PKK has accused the Turkish army of using chemical weapons in northern Iraq whilst the Peace Pledge Union has pointed to the growth of funding for cadets in schools as a sign of increased militarism.
Alleged Use of Chemical Weapons by Turkey
Steve Sweeney in the Morning Star reports that Turkey has been accused of using chemical weapons in the mountains of Kurdistan. The statement by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) did not specify what type of chemical weapon was used, beyond saying it was ‘a chemical warfare agent’. It also said that 12 such uses of chemical weapons had taken place recently, with the most recent happening on Saturday. Turkey, a NATO member, invaded parts of the Kurdish Regional Government in northern Iraq in late April.
Presence of Military in Schools
The Peace Pledge Union has criticised the entrenchment of ‘cadet forces’ in school while cutting other youth services to the bone, according to the Morning Star. The PPU says funding for cadets in school has increased by £50 million since 2016. The Education Secretary Gavin Williamson has said cadet forces will receive yet more funding under the Cadet Expansion Scheme. Trade unions say other types of youth service have seen nearly half a billion in funding cuts in the last decade.
With best wishes,
Michael Muir
Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament