Claudia Rosett

China's Nuclear Comprador for Iran

Any deal emerging from the Iran nuclear talks is supposed to block all Iran’s pathways to the bomb, or so promises President Obama. So, what does the Obama administration propose to do about such conduits as Chinese businessman and alleged serial proliferator to Iran, Li Fangwei?

Nuclear Bargains and State Department Backlogs

Should a final deal emerge from the Iran nuclear talks, now nearing a June 30 deadline, Congress will expect reports from the President every six months on whether Iran is in compliance. These reports would not be optional. They would be required under the Iran Nuclear Agreement Review Act of 2015, signed into law last month by President Obama.

Next Up: Nuclear Talks With North Korea?

Forbes originally published this article Beyond the sound and fury of the Iran nuclear talks lies a big follow-up question: What, if anything, does President Obama propose to do during his final stretch in office about the growing nuclear threat of North Korea?

North Korea's Takeaway From The Iran Nuclear Talks

Forbes.com In defense of the Iran nuclear talks, Obama administration officials have made a number of unlikely claims, including the repeated proposition that under the current Tehran regime Iran’s nuclear program could be transformed into something “exclusively peaceful.” But one of the most bizarre statements yet came just last weekend from Secretary of State John Kerry. Speaking to reporters in Beijing, Kerry said he hopes an Iran nuclear deal could have a “positive influence” on North Korea.

Iran Shipping Sanctions Run Aground?

Forbes.com Officially, the Obama administration remains committed to enforcing sanctions on Iran's main merchant shipping fleet, the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines, also known as IRISL. But in practice, since the Iran nuclear talks began early last year, many of IRISL's cargo ships appear to be operating ever more freely, with fading protest from Washington.

Obama's Iran Policy Is Lost at Sea

The Wall Street Journal American negotiators and their cohorts are trying to close a deal that would let Iran keep its nuclear program, subject to intricate conditions of monitoring and enforcement. Yet how is a deal like that supposed to be verified? The Obama administration can't even keep up with the Iran-linked oil tankers on the U.S. blacklist.

Lesson Of An Iran Sanctions Saga in Seoul

Forbes SEOUL — If international sanctions on Iran are lifted pronto — a condition Iran is demanding as part of any nuclear deal — how hard might it be to reimpose them, in the likely event that Iran cheats? For a glimpse of just how tough it could be, take the case of Iran’s Bank Mellat, headquartered in Tehran, but with a branch in Seoul — where, during a recent trip to South Korea, I dropped by for a look.

Our Nagging North Korea Problem

--Security Affairs When North Korea's young tyrant Kim Jong Un inherited power upon the death of his father, Kim Jong Il, in late 2011, there were hopes in some quarters that the new ruler might take his country in a less malign direction. Unlike his father, or his grandfather, North Korea's founding tyrant Kim Il Sung, Kim Jong Un had studied in the West, at a boarding school in Switzerland. He had a pretty wife. And he liked Walt Disney cartoon characters so much that in July 2012 he appeared on North Korean television with actors dressed as Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Surely, some speculated, in totalitarian North Korea this augured a turn for the better.

How North Korea and Iran Became Cyber-Terror Buddies

North Korea's rogue ventures, especially its long-standing romance with Iran

Stopping North Korea's Next Act of War

Forbes “Freedom has prevailed,” tweeted comedian Seth Rogen on Tuesday, celebrating the latest twist in the saga of “The Interview” — the Hollywood movie that became ground zero in the extortionate cyber attack that U.S. authorities are now blaming on North Korea. Sony Pictures Entertainment is now making the movie available online and in theaters, reversing its decision made last week to cancel the movie’s scheduled Christmas Day release.

Historic Day for Washington, Havana...and Pyongyang's Hackers

Forbes.com On a day when hackers working for North Korea managed to shut down the release of an American movie, on American soil, by threatening terrorist attacks on American theaters, one might have supposed that a televised announcement from President Obama would have been all about measures to deter and punish North Korea. At the very least, Obama might have proposed putting North Korea back on the U.S. list of State Sponsors of Terrorism, from which it was removed in 2008 by the Bush administration in a desperate bid to salvage a rotten nuclear deal.

North Korea and Iran: Partners in Cyber Warfare?

If investigators can't track the hacking of Sony back to North Korea, they would do well to take a close look at Pyongyang's supporters and sympathizers, starting with Iran.

Iran Nuclear Talks and North Korean Flashbacks

Forbes.com With the Iran nuclear talks nearing a Nov. 24 deadline for a deal, U.S. chief negotiator Wendy Sherman is under pressure to bring almost a year of bargaining to fruition. While U.S. policy rests ultimately with President Obama, and the most prominent American face in these talks is now that of Secretary of State John Kerry, the hands-on haggling has been the domain of Sherman. On the ground, she has been chief choreographer of the U.S. negotiating team. The President has been pleased enough with her performance to promote her last week from Under Secretary to Acting Deputy Secretary of State.

North Korea Takes a Tip from Iran's "Charm Offensive"?

Forbes North Korea is engaged in a blitz of diplomatic activity, summed up by the New York Times as Pyongyang's "Diplomatic Charm Offensive." Earlier this month, North Korea dispatched a high-level delegation to South Korea. This past Monday, one of North Korea's senior envoys to the United Nations spoke about human rights at the Council on Foreign Relations. On Wednesday, North Korea freed Jeffrey Fowle, one of three Americans known to be imprisoned in the country.

The U.N.’s Grotesque Gaza Inquiry

Bias against Israel is the most glaring problem with the new Gaza inquiry that the United Nations Human Rights Council launched last month. The council has appointed as its chief investigator a Canadian lawyer, William Schabas, who has said in recent years that he’d like to see Israel’s prime minister and president hauled before the International Criminal Court. The resolution authorizing his inquiry is crammed with vilifications of Israel, but it makes not a single mention of Hamas, the terrorist group that rules Gaza and that is dedicated in its charter to obliterating Israel and killing Jews. And in the current Gaza conflict that the U.N. purports to investigate, Hamas plays no minor role: It is against the thousands of rockets fired by Hamas and the many miles of attack tunnels — conduits for Hamas death squads — that Israel, in Operation Protective Edge, has been defending itself.

The U.N. Handmaiden of Hamas

On Wednesday, as a truce held between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group that rules the Gaza Strip, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon briefed the U.N. General Assembly. "The senseless cycle of suffering" must end, he said, asking: "Do we have to continue like this: build, destroy, and build, and destroy?"

Bad Move to the U.N.

NRO Having failed to produce a deal after six months of bargaining in Vienna, the Iran nuclear talks now appear headed for a venue even less auspicious for the U.S. and its allies: the United Nations General Assembly, whose next session opens this September in New York. According to a senior U.S. administration official, speaking at a background press briefing as the latest round of nuclear talks wrapped up, July 18, in Vienna: "There is no question that the U.N. General Assembly will become a focal point or a fulcrum for these negotiations."

North Korean Ship Tests the Waters Near America's Shores

This article was originally published in Forbes It’s not often that North Korean-flagged freighters turn up near America’s shores, but when they do, they deserve attention. North Korea has a prolific record of arms smuggling, narcotics dealing, counterfeiting, terrorist ties and missile and nuclear proliferation. So, let’s hope U.S. authorities are keeping a close eye on a North Korean cargo ship called the Mu Du Bong, which late last month called at Cuba, then vanished from the commercial shipping grid for more than a week. This past Thursday, July 10, the Mu Du Bong reappeared at Havana, then began steaming north of Cuba, and as of this writing is cruising the Gulf of Mexico, not all that far from the Mexican port of Tampico — or for that matter, the coast of Texas.

Eyes Wide Shut to North Korea's Terror Ties

Forbes.com News of North Korea is dominated right now by Pyongyang's threats to carry out yet another nuclear test, which would be its fourth since 2006, and its third since President Obama took office. Among the perils, given North Korea's longtime habit of peddling its weapons to rogue recipients around the globe, is that North Korean nuclear arms could end up in the hands of terrorists. All the more reason, then, to ask why the Obama administration has not put North Korea back on the U.S. blacklist of State Sponsors of Terrorism.

North Korea's Nuclear Fallout

For a rogue state under international sanctions, what is the penalty for threatening to carry out an illicit nuclear test? As North Korea is demonstrating, and Iran is no doubt closely observing, there is no serious cost.