Iran Withdraws from Nuclear Agreement

Iran told the United Nations that it plans to not accept an agreement that its negotiators agreed to last week. The plan had called for Iran to remove its uranium stockpile from the country. They would have been left with some uranium, but not enough for a nuclear weapon. This comes after very positive remarks by Iranian President Ahmadinejad, in which he declared that the country was ready to cooperate with the West in regards to its nuclear capabilities. Read further at New York Times.

Iran Nuclear Fuel Agreement Put Forth by IAEA; Good deal for Iran

The IAEA submitted a draft agreement to Iran, France, Russia and the U.S. Although details are unconfirmed, it appears the agreement would involve Iran exporting uranium to France and Russia for enrichment. While in a simple form this plan appears to be concilitory and functional, I have doubts it will really solve the issues at hand. First, Iran believes it has a right to enrich uranium for peaceful purposes, which is not addressed by this plan where that right is still only entrusted to other nations. Second, if Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons via uranium enrichment programs secretly, as has been claimed, this plan will have to include new guarentees for verifying the enrichment programs have been halted, a process that has thus far evaded international efforts. From a national defense prospective, Iran is wise to want to acquire a bomb. If it intends to continue developing one in secret, Iran still has no reason to reject the IAEA's proposal. There will no doubt be considerable foreign funding for exportation of uranium and it's enrichment. By accepting the plan, Iran will simultaneously gain less expensive energy bolstered by foreign aid, lift sanctions against it, get back in the world's good graces and, theoretically, be able to continue the covert development of a nuclear weapon. Seems like a good deal.

China and Russia eying each other, over influence in Central-Asia

WSJ reports China and Russia have signed trade contracts worth several billion dollars. Easing National Security tensions that arose when Russia shut down it's Moscow market dominated by Chinese traders. These two Nuclear powers are proceeding carefully as Russia is concerned over China's influx of traders into the sparsely populated East. China itself is wary of Russia's influence over the resource-rich Central-Asian countries. Read more.