Vladimir Putin has this week proposed changes to Russia’s nuclear doctrine that would significantly lower the threshold for the country’s use of nuclear weapons. Addressing a September 25 meeting of senior Kremlin officials, he presented a series of draft amendments aimed at expanding the scope for possible nuclear strikes. Putin emphasized that if these revisions
The Kremlin has this week announced plans to revise its nuclear doctrine, less than one month after Ukraine’s surprise invasion of Russia made a complete mockery of Moscow’s frequent nuclear threats. In a September 1 interview, Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov confirmed that Russia is in the process of amending its doctrine on the
The letter of support Iranian President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian sent to the secretary general of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, on July 8 was seen by Israelis as a reinforcement of their already strong conviction that the reformist president’s election will not result in any change in the Islamic Republic. Responding to Nasrallah’s congratulatory message, Pezeshkian pledged continued
President-elect Masoud Pezeshkian declared during his campaign that he intends to work to lift US sanctions on Iran. It is clear that the removal of sanctions on critical sectors of the Iranian economy, such as the energy sector, requires a new agreement with the West regarding the country’s nuclear program. But Pezeshkian wasn’t the only
Belarus engaged in a bout of nuclear saber-rattling on June 30, with Chief of the Belarusian General Staff Pavel Muraveiko declaring that his country would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons if provoked. “We’ve learned how to handle these weapons. We know how to apply them confidently. And you can be sure that we will
Since the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion more than two years ago, Western military support for Ukraine has been plagued by endless delays, restrictions, and half-measures. This underwhelming response has typically been blamed on concerns over possible Russian retaliation and the desire to avoid a wider war. In reality, however, some Western leaders may also
“The idea struck me to introduce the concept of a fatwa [during the 2004 nuclear] negotiations. There was no coordination [in advance],” Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator at the time recounted eight years after the incident. This was nothing short of a stroke of genius in shaping a false narrative about the Islamic Republic’s nuclear program,
Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel on April 14, in retaliation for an alleged Israeli airstrike in Syria, represented the most dangerous round of conflict between the two countries in decades. This attack involved more than 350 ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones. The killing of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) commander Mohammad Reza Zahedi at
Russia could respond with nuclear weapons if the West sends troops to Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has warned. In his annual State of the Nation address on February 29, the Russian dictator said any attempt to deploy Western troops in Ukraine “threatens a conflict with nuclear weapons and the destruction of civilization.” This was the latest
ORIGINAL SOURCE On September 21, the Scowcroft Center and the Korea Society hosted a joint panel event on “New Nuclear Dynamics of Northeast Asia” in New York City featuring Matthew Kroenig, Markus Garlauskas, and IPSI nonresident fellow Jessica Taylor, alongside Dr. Sue Mi Terry and moderator Jonathan Corrado. The conversation explored issues such as growing
