North Korean weapons mystery continues

Kayasit Pissawongprakan, Director General Thai Attorney General

Thai officals played coy with the media about where exactly the arms were going. They claim that just because the manifest said Iran, doesn’t mean the weapons were going to Iran. While this may be true, it strikes as a convenient explanation to a dangerous and embarrassing situation.

BANGKOK — Thailand said Monday that an aircraft loaded with North Korean weapons was flying to Iran when it was intercepted in December but the ultimate destination of the arms is still not known.

Thai authorities seized the Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane and its five-man crew as it landed to refuel on a flight from Pyongyang Dec. 12. Found on board were 35 tons of weapons.

A Thai government report to the U.N. Security Council, leaked to reporters in New York over the weekend, said the aircraft, which had violated U.N. sanctions against North Korea, was bound for Tehran’s Mahrabad Airport.

But Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayarkorn said Monday that “to say that the weapons are going to Iran, that might be inexact.”

“The report only says where the plane was going to according to its flight plan, but it doesn’t say where the weapons were going to,” he said. “It’s still under investigation, and the suspects are under our legal system.”

Iran Says Launches Satellite Rocket

Iranian Kavoshar-3 Rocket

Iran responded to recent deployments of US Missile Defense systems in the Persian gulf with a launch of a Kavosghar-3 rocket. This rocket has the potential to carry the payload equivalent of a satellite. Experts commented on the launch saying that it contributes to Iran’s ballistic missile capabilities, but does not foretell an ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) capability or anything else capable of threatening Western Europe or the U.S. homeland.

Iran said on Wednesday it had launched a Kavoshgar-3 rocket capable of carrying a satellite — a move that may add to Western concern about Tehran’s nuclear program.

President Mahmoud Ahmadineja said the launch was a huge breakthrough which would help break “the global domineering system” — a reference to Iran’s Western foes.

On Tuesday, he had struck a more conciliatory note, saying Iran was ready to send its enriched uranium abroad in what appeared to be an easing of its position in the nuclear dispute.

Western powers fear Iran is trying to build nuclear bombs and that the long-range ballistic technology used to put satellites into orbit can also be used to launch warheads. Iran says its nuclear program is solely to generate electricity.

US Official: NKorea Must Return to Nuke Talks

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Kurt Campbell

The North Korean tap dance continues. Pyongyang wants a peace treaty and diplomatic relations with the US before it will sit down for nuclear disarmament talks. Washington wants North Korea to sit down at the nuclear table first, then they can deal with other issues. This is happening against the back drop of a possible missile test in the next few days.

SEOUL, South Korea — North Korea’s return to the nuclear disarmament process is an essential next step before any discussions about political and economic concessions can begin, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday.

The American’s remarks were a response to nuclear-armed North Korea’s repeated call for a peace treaty to formally end the Korean War as well as diplomatic relations with the U.S. before it agrees to return to the disarmament negotiations it walked away from the last year.

Pyongyang cites the U.S. military presence in South Korea as its main reason for building a nuclear weapons program. North Korea is believed to have enough weaponized plutonium for at least half a dozen nuclear bombs, and last year revealed it has a uranium enrichment program that would give it a second way to make atomic weapons.

U.S., Russia Agree to Nuclear-Arms Accord

The U.S. and Russia may have finally reached a deal to replace the START I treaty that expired in December 2009. The deal would bring the number of deployed nuclear weapons down to between 1,500 and 1,675 per side; a drop of nearly 800. Nuclear-delivery systems would be cut in half, to between 700 and 800 each. This is a promising sign and could relate into future cooperation in regards to Iran and North Korea.

WASHINGTON—U.S. and Russian arms-control negotiators have reached an “agreement in principle” on the first nuclear-arms-reduction treaty in nearly two decades, administration and arms-control officials said Tuesday.

The deal, which was widely expected, would bring down deployed nuclear warheads and sharply limit the number of missiles and bombers that can deliver them.

Rose Gottemoeller, the Obama administration’s lead negotiator, flew to Geneva Monday to help draft the final text and begin what could still be an arduous process of translating the agreement into treaty language, an administration official said.

“There may be finessing and fine-tuning, but the issues, from our perspective, are all addressed,” the official added.