CND's Press Round-Up - 2nd June 2021
Posted: 4th June 2021
Dear all,
Please find today’s press round up below. Thank you to all for their continued help and support.
Nuclear Weapons
A former senior Navy nuclear submarine officer criticised the UK’s possession of nuclear weapons, whilst it looks like the Vienna talks might be extended again and U.S. nuclear spending increases come under scrutiny.
UK Nuclear Programme
A former senior commander on the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarine fleet has publicly criticised the policies set out in the Integrated Review, as well as the post-Cold War Trident programme more broadly. The Daily Express reportsretired Lieutenant Commander Rob Forsyth as saying that the parliamentary debate on the Integrated Review was ‘a series of MPs wrapping the Union Flag around themselves talking about protecting the nation and pressing the nuclear button’. Forsyth served as deputy commander of a nuclear-armed submarine in the 1980s but said that ‘when the Berlin Wall came down, I assumed Trident was yesterday’s weapon and we wouldn’t be replacing the Vanguards’.
Iran Nuclear Deal Talks
Al Jazeera reports that the talks in Vienna on reviving the JCPoA are likely to be extended, after the IAEA raised concerns over the presence of uranium at undeclared facilities. Iran’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Abbas Araghchi, who is the lead negotiator, said he thought talks might have to go to a sixth round. He did add that ‘much of the required text’ of an agreement had been drafted.
U.S. Nuclear Expenditure
The U.S. political blog the Hill carries a comment piece looking at internal U.S. civil service estimates of the future cost of the country’s nuclear weapons programme. The report concludes that, over the next ten years, spending on nuclear weapons will be nearly a third higher than the most recent government estimation. The author, a policy analyst at the hard right Heritage Foundation think tank, argues that the costings for the weapons programme are over-stated because they only focus in on a particularly capital-intensive part of nuclear ‘modernisation’. The full briefing paper by the Congressional Budget Office can be found here.
NATO
Turkey has tried to defuse tensions with the U.S. ahead of the NATO summit by sending Russian personnel home and NATO cabinet ministers meet in Brussels to prepare for Cornwall.
Russian Missile Defence in Turkey
Russian technical advisers on the S-400 missile system stationed in Turkey will return home at the Turkish government’s request, according to Bloomberg News. The decision comes shortly before a meeting between President Biden and Erdogan at the NATO summit. The move is seen as a compromise since it allows Turkey to retain the system whilst at the same time tries to assuage U.S. concerns about Russian influence over a member of NATO in a strategically crucial region. The U.S. has said sanctions will only be removed once the Russian-produced system is scrapped.
NATO Summit Preparations
Defence and foreign ministers from NATO members met in Brussels yesterday to discuss this month’s summit, according to the Associated Press. Key topics under discussion at Tuesday’s meeting included a perceived increase in Russian assertiveness and the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. The aim of the meeting was to draft a long joint statement for discussion in two weeks’ time.
Anti-War
The leader of the Polisario Front has denied charges for which he was arrested in Spain under universal jurisdiction.
Morocco’s Occupation of Western Sahara
The leader of the Sahrawi independence movement has appeared before a Spanish court charged with torture and genocide, charges which he vehemently denies, according to the Morning Star. Brahim Ghali of the Polisario Front was arrested after entering Spain for coronavirus treatment. Ghali claims the allegations, which relate to the Polisario Front’s conduct in refugee camps in western Algeria are engineered by Morocco. A nationwide day of action in solidarity with Western Sahara is due to take place in Spain on 18th June.
With best wishes,
Michael Muir
Press and Communications Officer
Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament