August 2007

Iran 'reaches key nuclear goal' A recent International Institute for Strategic Studies report said if Iran could operate 3,000 centrifuges smoothly, one bomb could be produced within nine to 11 months.
US and Iran spar ahead of Iraq report "The US is seriously concerned about Iranian support for violence in Iraq that has killed American soldiers, and as we get close to the date of the Petraeus report, the Iran factor looms large," says Mark Fitzpatrick, an Iran expert at the International Institute of Strategic Studies in London. "It's natural that President Bush would point to that external factor as a reason not to cut and run from Iraq."
India's appetite for arms draws world Russia is still India's principal arms supplier, and is in negotiations for some $10 billion in contracts, including a countrywide air defense system. "The Russians are going to get quite a bit of this business," predicted Andrew Brooks, an aerospace analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, which is based in London. The U.S. Congress could present another hurdle for U.S. companies. Lawmakers could prohibit the sale of the most advanced military equipment, Brooks...
Guinea-Bissau to shoot down drug traffickers The International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, in its survey of the world's armed forces, says Guinea-Bissau has three MiG-17 fighter jets and three Alouette helicopters, plus two in-shore patrol naval craft.
Teheran fury as US soldiers arrest Iranians Mark Fitzpatrick, an analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said there was now a serious prospect of American military action against Iran. He said: "There is a real possibility that President Bush will feel compelled not to allow this problem to pass to his successor.''
Uranium's reaction to a nuclear future Mark Fitzpatrick, a senior fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the deal struck last month between the US and India to allow nuclear co-operation between the two was a "huge shift in US policy". Australia has taken its cue from the US and agreed in principle to sell uranium to India, which will mean breaking its rule to sell uranium only to signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Mr Fitzpatrick said Israel and Pakistan can be expected to lobby...
Will Bush take military strikes at Iran? Mark Fitzpatrick, nuclear analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London said: "There is a real possibility that President Bush will feel compelled not to allow this problem to pass to his successor. "The effectiveness and consequences of air strikes would have to be calculated, of course, and they might in the end be felt to be a bad idea, but we should take this seriously. "Iran is at the moment making a show of co-operating with the International...
Plan Released by Iran and U.N. Atomic Agency Although officials at the International Atomic Energy Agency have not commented since the plan was released, the agencys deputy director, Olli Heinonen, praised it as an important milestone during a visit to Iran last week in which the plan was finalized. While saying the process will take time, he added: We have in front of us an agreed work plan. We agreed on modalities on how to implement it. We have a timeline for the implementation. But...
Iran should avoid more sanctions this year Non-proliferation analyst Mark Fitzpatrick said from London: "I think Iran has played this smart in a way that very well postpones any further Security Council action until the end of the year."But the United States, Britain and France will be pressing for quicker Security Council action unless Iran really does provide some full answers to the IAEA's questions," he said.Fitzpatrick, as well as several diplomats, expressed concern that the timetable says the agency will...
India to fortify its air combat power The Military Balance published by the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) , London says that India has about 800 combat jets. Of these, except for about 60 Su 30 MKIs acquired in the last few years from Russia, all are around 20 years old, or more than that..
Diplomats criticize Iran's deal with UN "Iran has wised up, realizing that stiffing the IAEA helped lead to unanimous UN sanctions resolutions. The work plan is designed to show cooperation in order to forestall more sanctions," said Mark Fitzpatrick, chief nonproliferation analyst at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. "But there is less here than meets the eye," he said, warning of "serious omissions." "Iran is holding on to the more political issues for leverage in any...
Malaysia's axis mysteriously shifting US officials who spoke with Asia Times would not comment on the investigations involving Malaysia on the grounds that they involve sensitive intelligence information. And so far there is no evidence to link recent violations of the US embargo directly to Abdullah. Yet security analysts say the recent incidents have put the crucial bilateral relationship on edge. "I am absolutely sure that the US is watching these developments closely and pressing hard on Malaysia behind the scenes,"...
Gas 'cartel' idea This falls short of setting up an international gas producers' alliance, but according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London, the Doha meeting took the forum "a step closer" to the formation of such an organisation. "The decision to set up an expert panel to study pricing and related issues may be interpreted as an initial reconnaissance move towards changing the structure of the world's gas trade," the IISS declared.
The world laughs not with us but at us Suddenly the foreign ministry in its infinite wisdom has decided to ask the PR in New York to attend the First Committee when he has not been dealing with the subject. That is not all. The foreign ministry is to hold an anti-terrorism conference in Colombo. It has obviously been hurriedly arranged and at the wrong time. The result is some of those most qualified to speak on the broader issues related to terrorism such as academics from universities abroad who could have made positive...
Opium growth in Afghanistan increasing Colonel CHRISTOPHER LANGTON (Retired, International Institute for Strategic Studies) : You could find a task force commander who wakes up to be told by an Afghan functionary, a mayor, that a village has been bombed, what is he doing about it, and he doesn't even know that it's happened...
Blue on blue deaths raise tough questions Some are more avoidable than others. In the latest incident British soldiers engaged in intense fighting with the Taliban called for help. A US air force F-15 long-range strike aircraft came to their aid and dropped a 500lb bomb, raising the immediate question why British aircraft, such as Apache attack helicopters or Harrier jets were not available. "The UK was talking to the US who might not be au fait with what the British officer is saying," speculated Andrew Brookes, a former...
Not quite the pact that was Does the comparison hold? In narrow military terms, the ability to co-ordinate the movements of more than 6,000 troops, and a broad range of armour, across long distances was quite successfully proved: a feat comparable with a medium-sized drill by the Atlantic alliance, says Christopher Langton of the International Institute for Strategic Studies, a London-based think-tank.
Russia resumes long range bomber patrols Colonel Christopher Langton is a former Military and Defence attache in Russia now with the International Institute of Strategic Studies. He spoke to Stephanie Kennedy CHRISTOPHER LANGTON: I think you need to look at this in the overall context of Putin's attitude towards the United States and its allies in the first instance. In the second instance it is partly because financially he can now afford to do this With the improvement in the Russian Economy which enables expenditure on these...
United Nations Disarmament Conference In view of the growing threats to global and regional security arising from nuclear proliferation risks, the conference will address challenges facing the nuclear non-proliferation regime and strengthening of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), and will discuss a new vision and required leadership towards a world free from nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction. Regional issues in relation to nuclear testing and nuclear proliferation will also be...
Britain Shifts Focus to Afghanistan The Prime Minister has been at pains to emphasize his commitment to warm relations with the White House, but his popularity in Britain has been boosted by a widespread perception that he's shifted away from the backslapping chumminess of the Blair era. He's now preparing to fight an election, possibly even as early as this fall, to turn that popularity into a fresh political mandate. That means, says Dr. Toby Dodge, an Iraq expert at Queen Mary College, University of London, he'll be...