https://sagire.online/topic/nuclear/ Rolling analysis and coverage of geopolitics, energy, security and supply chains. en Thu, 05 Nov 2026 02:48:00 -0300 https://sagire.online/wire/f2805b57/https://sagire.online/wire/f2805b57/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 20:21:00 -0300A growing number of Iranian clerics and officials are pressing the country's leaders to reverse their pledge not to pursue nuclear weapons, according to The New York Times, in a report cited by The Jerusalem Post. Specialist Mohammad Ghaderi told the paper that advocating leaving the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), once a minority view, has become the majority position in Tehran, and analyst Mohammad Ali Shabani said the religious taboo on the weapon is gone — “the question is whether a strategic or political shift will follow”. President Masoud Pezeshkian and former President Hassan Rouhani still back a peaceful nuclear doctrine, according to the paper.IranNuclearDiplomacy https://sagire.online/wire/a7da80d3/https://sagire.online/wire/a7da80d3/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 18:24:00 -0300Iranian lawmaker Manouchehr Mottaki, a former foreign minister and member of parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, said that the chamber would vote unanimously to reconsider Iran’s continued membership in the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if the supreme leader asked, according to the Mehr news agency. Mottaki said lawmakers receive around 200 text messages a day urging withdrawal and that he believes the time has come to discuss leaving the treaty, stressing that the decision rests with the supreme leader. The Paydari Front, led by former nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili, issued a statement calling for Iran’s withdrawal from the treaty, arguing that recent wars show the country needs nuclear weapons for deterrence. Mohsen Rezaei, secretary of the Supreme National Security Council, said on October 31 that Iran’s future as a party to the treaty was uncertain. On November 1, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated that Iran is a member of the NPT and upholds its commitments under the treaty.IranNuclearMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/3dab014d/https://sagire.online/wire/3dab014d/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 14:22:00 -0300Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Tuesday again called for discussions on reviewing the country’s Three Non-Nuclear Principles and expressed support for considering the introduction of nuclear-powered submarines, Kyodo News reported. Speaking at a seminar in Tokyo, Koizumi said an environment should be created in which necessary security policies can be discussed openly and frankly without prejudice, and that as Japan revises its three key security documents by the end of the year, society as a whole should develop a shared understanding of nuclear threats. The Three Non-Nuclear Principles stipulate that the country will not possess, produce or permit the introduction of nuclear weapons, and the current National Security Strategy explicitly states that the policy will remain unchanged. Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi told parliament in October that her government would “deepen concrete and realistic considerations” regarding the potential introduction of nuclear-powered submarines for the Self-Defense Forces.JapanNuclearDefenseDeterrence https://sagire.online/wire/6b6ece66/https://sagire.online/wire/6b6ece66/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 08:22:00 -0300US President Donald Trump said the country does not see the need to use nuclear weapons against Iran, in a phone interview with Politico, according to TASS. “I don't need it. We've knocked them out already 90%. So, I don't need that,” he said.United StatesIranNuclear https://sagire.online/wire/c82f25d4/https://sagire.online/wire/c82f25d4/Wed, 04 Nov 2026 01:22:00 -0300The public inquiry into the $368 billion nuclear submarine agreement called AUKUS the worst, riskiest and most costly defense decision ever made by an Australian government, recommending its immediate termination and the suspension of plans for new bases, and said Australia risks being dragged into military conflict with China, estimating an additional $180 billion to deal with the nuclear waste.AustraliaDefenseNuclear https://sagire.online/wire/e4dc80d1/https://sagire.online/wire/e4dc80d1/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 19:22:00 -0300Donald Trump said on Monday night in an interview with Fox News that the United States might have to strike the facility buried under Pickaxe Mountain, in the Isfahan region, south of Natanz. According to him, the operation can be carried out “in one hour”, “at any time”. The president also played down the conflict with Iran: “This isn’t a war. This is a very soft war.” Two American officials said Monday’s strikes on Qeshm Island, in the Strait of Hormuz, were defensive. Trump said new strikes could happen if there is no deal, but that there is “a very good chance” a deal is reached.United StatesIranNuclear https://sagire.online/wire/a7c55b9d/https://sagire.online/wire/a7c55b9d/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 18:23:00 -0300The presidents Lee Jae Myung and Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed in Seoul to expand cooperation in nuclear energy and defense, signing a memorandum on financing for nuclear power projects to support the participation of South Korean companies. According to Lee, cooperation on Turkey’s Sinop nuclear power plant project “has been progressing smoothly.” On defense, the two countries agreed to expand joint production and technological cooperation and to explore opportunities for companies from both sides to enter third-country markets together. Bilateral trade reached a record $10.7 billion last year.South KoreaTurkeyNuclearDefenseTrade https://sagire.online/wire/f252f073/https://sagire.online/wire/f252f073/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 18:22:00 -0300US officials acknowledged having launched strikes on the Iranian island of Qeshm, in the Strait of Hormuz, and told CBS, the BBC’s US partner, that the operation was limited and responded to fire from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) at a US aircraft. Iran’s state news agency IRNA reported several explosions on the island on Monday. According to The New York Times, US Central Command (Centcom) has a plan to strike Iran as early as Wednesday, after the midterm elections, when three aircraft carriers will be in the region. Some cabinet members want more time for sanctions and a US blockade, saying that economic pressure would eventually bring down Iran’s government; other officials see little prospect of its collapse without further strikes. Trump told Axios he was in no rush: “Either way, we will do something, but there is no rush. We have weakened them financially.” In an interview with Fox News, he said the US “may need to strike Pickaxe,” a site linked to Iran’s nuclear program.United StatesIranStrait of HormuzThe GulfNuclear https://sagire.online/wire/1cddf041/https://sagire.online/wire/1cddf041/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 16:23:00 -0300The management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, under Russian control, said on Tuesday that a Ukrainian drone had killed two people in a car, including a female employee at the station, according to Reuters, in a text republished by Street Insider. The statement gave no indication where the attack occurred and said the employee was the third killed in the past two weeks and the 13th since April. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said last week that an employee at the plant had been killed, but gave no details. Ukraine did not comment on the accusation. Russian forces seized the plant, Europe's largest, with six reactors, in the first weeks of the invasion that began in February 2022. The facility is offline, and IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has repeatedly called for military restraint around it.UkraineRussiaNuclearDronesConflict https://sagire.online/wire/dbdfa992/https://sagire.online/wire/dbdfa992/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 10:23:00 -0300Japan’s defense minister, Shinjiro Koizumi, again called for an open and frank discussion on nuclear weapons in the country, at a symposium in Tokyo, according to the Russian state agency TASS, which cites Kyodo News. “We must create conditions in which the security measures necessary for Japan can be discussed openly and frankly,” he said. The statement comes amid the review of the national security strategy, which also touches on Japan’s three non-nuclear principles: not to possess, produce or introduce nuclear weapons into its territory. Koizumi also once again left the door open to potentially equipping the country’s navy with nuclear submarines.JapanNuclearDefense https://sagire.online/wire/a160f2f4/https://sagire.online/wire/a160f2f4/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 08:23:00 -0300The presidents of South Korea, Lee Jae Myung, and of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, signed in Seoul a memorandum on cooperation in financing nuclear projects to support the participation of South Korean companies in Turkey’s new nuclear power projects. Lee said cooperation on the Sinop plant project, including site assessments and the work of a joint working group, was “progressing smoothly” under the memorandum on nuclear energy cooperation signed in November 2025. The project aims to build Turkey’s second nuclear power plant, on its northern Black Sea coast, with the state-run Korea Electric Power Corporation seeking to participate. The two countries also agreed to deepen defense cooperation by expanding joint production and technological cooperation and jointly exploring opportunities for companies from both countries in third-country markets. The governments also signed an agreement on natural resources and mining and plan an intergovernmental channel to diversify critical mineral supply chains. Bilateral trade reached a record US$ 10.7 billion last year, according to Lee, after surpassing US$ 10 billion for the first time in 2023, a decade after the free trade agreement took effect in 2013.South KoreaTurkeyNuclearDefenseCritical mineralsTrade https://sagire.online/wire/0cd4cdce/https://sagire.online/wire/0cd4cdce/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 07:22:00 -0300South Korean President Lee Jae Myung and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan drew up a cooperation blueprint in Seoul covering areas from nuclear energy, the defense industry and infrastructure to advanced technologies, biotechnology and energy. “Today, our two countries drew up a blueprint for mutual prosperity across diverse areas,” Lee said. Erdogan called the bilateral relationship a “blood alliance,” recalling Turkey's participation in the 1950-53 Korean War. The two countries mark 70 years of diplomatic relations in 2027.South KoreaTurkeyNuclearDefenseDiplomacy https://sagire.online/wire/c556feaf/https://sagire.online/wire/c556feaf/Tue, 03 Nov 2026 03:22:00 -0300Donald Trump told Fox News that the United States could go after Pickaxe Mountain, a suspected underground nuclear complex in Iran, if there is no deal — the operation could be done in one hour — and did not rule out resuming the war, but said there is a good chance of a deal. A senior Iranian official told Reuters, in a text republished by the Jerusalem Post, that the two countries are far from an understanding to end the war and that Tehran will not accept Washington’s excessive demands, while Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said in a televised address that the ball is now in the United States’ court to prevent war.IranUnited StatesNuclearMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/f7002c86/https://sagire.online/wire/f7002c86/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 19:21:00 -0300US Vice President JD Vance said Washington has made progress in talks with Iran and that he and President Donald Trump feel optimistic about a negotiated settlement. Asked whether Iran had been given a deadline before strikes resume, he said: “No, we haven’t set deadlines.” Vance tied a deal to a firm and verifiable commitment that Iran does not rebuild its nuclear program. Trump said Iran wants a settlement as soon as possible and that it could happen.United StatesIranNuclearDiplomacyMiddle East https://sagire.online/wire/e1e69278/https://sagire.online/wire/e1e69278/Mon, 02 Nov 2026 15:22:00 -0300Iran has a two-day plan to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and resume nuclear talks with the United States, Tehran said on Monday, shortening a process originally expected to take seven days, and has conditioned the reopening on Washington accepting its demands. They include an end to military operations on all fronts, the end of the US naval blockade of Iranian ports, the unfreezing of Iranian assets held abroad and the suspension of sanctions on the country’s oil sector.IranUnited StatesStrait of HormuzThe GulfNuclearSanctions