DefenceTalkNorth Korea has continued to pursue its weapons development programs despite facing a worsening economic situation due to its self-imposed coronavirus blockade, a new UN report has said. Pyongyang is under multiple sets of international sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, which have seen rapid progress under current leader Kim Jong Un. The […]

DefenceTalkUS Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Wednesday that time was running out for Iran to return to a nuclear deal after a scathing report by the UN atomic watchdog and Tehran’s signals that it would take a while to return to talks. The IAEA released a strongly-worded report Tuesday saying monitoring tasks in Iran […]

DefenceTalkIran’s President-elect Ebrahim Raisi said on Monday he will not allow nuclear negotiations for the sake of negotiations, in his first news conference since winning election last week. Raisi also ruled out meeting US President Joe Biden but said there were “no obstacles” to resuming diplomatic relations with Saudi Arabia, the Sunni-ruled regional rival of […]

DefenceTalkChina said Tuesday radiation levels remained normal at one of its nuclear power plants and there were no safety concerns, after the station’s French operator reported a gas build-up. “There is no abnormality in the radiation levels around the nuclear power plant, and safety is guaranteed,” said foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian. CNN reported earlier […]

DefenceTalkEven as the pandemic raged and economies around the world were devastated, nuclear-armed countries last year increased spending on atomic weapon arsenals by 1.4 billion dollars, campaigners said Monday. In a fresh report, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) detailed how the world’s nine nuclear-armed states continued to swell their spending on such […]

DefenceTalkIran’s President Hassan Rouhani said Wednesday the decision to boost uranium enrichment to 60 percent was a response to arch-foe Israel’s “nuclear terrorism” against its Natanz facility. Tehran starting up advanced centrifuges and producing more highly refined uranium “is a response to your malice”, Rouhani said in a message aimed at the Jewish state. “What […]

DefenceTalkTalks to save the Iran nuclear deal resume in Vienna Thursday amid new tensions, with Tehran preparing to ramp up uranium enrichment in response to an attack on a facility it blamed on arch-foe Israel. After a positive first round of negotiations aimed at resurrecting the 2015 agreement scuttled by Donald Trump, Iran’s push towards […]

DefenceTalkBritain is to announce an increase to its nuclear weapons stockpile as part of a wide-ranging review of security, defence and foreign policy, two newspapers said on Monday. The Guardian and The Sun said in their online editions that the country would look to raise the number of warheads from 180 to 260 by the […]

DefenceTalkIran on Sunday dismissed Europe’s offer for an informal meeting involving the United States on the troubled 2015 nuclear deal, saying the time is not “suitable” as Washington has failed to lift sanctions. The European Union’s political director earlier this month proposed the informal meeting involving all parties of the Vienna deal, a proposition accepted […]

DefenceTalkDefenceTalkIran on Friday renewed its call for the US to lift all sanctions imposed by former president Donald Trump, after an offer for talks from new President Joe Biden’s administration. Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif tweeted that Iran would “immediately reverse” its retaliatory measures if the US lifts “all sanctions imposed, re-imposed or re-labelled by […]https://www.defencetalk.com/iran-renews-call-to-us-to-lift-all-sanctions-imposed-by-trump-76785/