In December 2022, the Japanese government released a trio of major strategic documents the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and Defense Buildup Program.
The Opium Jihad - Open The Magazine openthemagazine.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from openthemagazine.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
The Obama Administration's engagement policy toward Iran has failed to defuse the nuclear standoff. Instead, Iran has continued to conceal and lie about its nuclear weapons program in an attempt to stall until it can present the world with a nuclear fait accompli. A nuclear-armed Iran not only will have a dramatically increased ability to threaten its neighbors and U.S. interests, but will also trigger a destabilizing nuclear arms race in the already volatile Middle East. The Administration's best option is to press both its allies and the U.N. Security Council to impose the strongest possible sanctions on Iran to increase the costs to Iran of continuing its nuclear weapons program.
On just about any list of international “bad actors,” North Korea and Iran certainly make the cut and any news of them working together (and likely against the U.S. and our friends) is quickly put in the category of “trouble.” So you can imagine the concern recently when an unidentified U.S. official told the press that: “Iran and North Korea have resumed cooperation on a long-range missile project, including the transfer of critical parts.”
March 17, 2021: Iran revealed that it had tested a new SLV (Satellite Launch Vehicle) called Zuljanah in early February. The rocket was described as being able to put 220 kg (484 pounds) into a 500-kilometer-high orbit. The payload could be one satellite or up to ten “smallsats”. The 52 ton Zuljanah was a breakthrough for Iran because the first two stages used solid-fuel and only the third stage used more controllable liquid fuel propulsion to put the satellite in orbit or maneuver a nuclear warhead towards a target below. Iran denied that Zuljanah was really part of their continuing effort to develop an ICBM (Inter Continental Ballistic Missile) capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the United States.