The Obama administration is reportedly using a secret channel of communication to warn Iran that closing the Straits of Hormuz, through which more than a fifth of sea-borne oil passes, is a “red line” that would provoke a response from Washington. Claiming that Iran has always kept the Straits open to international shipping, Iran allowed the USS Abraham Lincoln, on a routine visit, to pass through the Straits of Hormuz into the Persian Gulf last week.

‘Iran is unlikely to decide to dash toward making nuclear weapons as long as its uranium enrichment capability remains as limited as it is today,’ the report said

Iran is unlikely to move toward building a nuclear weapon this year because it does not yet have the capability to produce enough weapon-grade uranium, a draft report by the Institute for Science and International Security said on Wednesday.

Iran has taken steps in recent weeks that bring it closer to launching uranium enrichment deep inside a mountain, diplomatic sources say, a move that would worsen its nuclear confrontation with the West.

Iran has said for months that it is preparing to conduct uranium enrichment at Fordow - a protected site deep underground where it says it wants to make material for a peaceful nuclear reactor - but it has yet to start.

Iranian scientists have produced their first nuclear fuel rod, Iran’s nuclear agency said Sunday, another step despite United Nations sanctions and measures by the United States and others to stop the nation’s atomic work and shut down any possible pathways to weapons production.

Iran has long said it is forced to seek a way to manufacture the fuel rods on its own, since the sanctions ban it from buying them on foreign markets. Nuclear fuel rods are tubes containing pellets of enriched uranium that provide fuel for reactors.

Pakistan and India on Sunday exchanged lists of nuclear installations and facilities, under an agreement to prevent the two nuclear neighbouring countries from attacking each other's nuclear sites.

The two countries also exchanged lists of prisoners in each other's custody, under another accord binding the two sides to provide details of the prisoners in the custody twice a year--on January 1 and July 1.

India and Pakistan on Sunday exchanged lists of their nuclear installations and facilities under a two-decade-old pact prohibiting attacks on atomic assets, days after senior officials of the two sides held talks here on nuclear and conventional confidence-building measures (CBMs). The governments of the two countries are required to exchange lists of their nuclear installations and facilities on January 1 every year under the terms of the “Agreement on Prohibition of Attacks against Nuclear Installations and Facilities” that was signed in December 1988.

Claiming that the rules notified by the government for the Civil Nuclear Liability Act have diluted some provisions of the legislation, the CPM has moved amendments to the rules in both the Houses of Parliament.
It is objecting to the rule which limits Indian operators’ right to claim damages from foreign supplier to the duration of the initial licence period or the product liability period.

All licences issued under the Atomic Energy (Radiation Protection) Rules, 2004, are valid for an initial period of five years.

Notwithstanding the Fukushima nuclear disaster in March this year, the prospects of a civil nuclear accord between India and Japan are bright, according to top diplomatic sources. The issue would be discussed when Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda meets Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in New Delhi on December 28 for the annual India-Japan summit. However, the deal would be signed only after the countries have resolved all differences.

Apart from China's posturing at sea, the proposed nuclear deal between India and Japan is expected to figure prominently during talks between the two countries when Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda visits India in the last week of December.
Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, a strong votary of nuclear energy to meet India's growing energy needs, is expected to touch on the issue of negotiations on the nuclear cooperation pact, suspended since the crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant crippled by the devastating March 11 earthquake and tsunami, official sources said.

Australian defence minister Stephen Smith, who had pitched for reversing ruling Labor party's policy on uranium export to India, has ruled out similar treatment to Pakistan, citing its poor proliferation record.
Smith, who is on his way to India, said he was a strong supporter of uranium export to India, calling it an exceptional case. “India brought itself under the governance of the international nuclear regulators, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the Nuclear Suppliers Group,” Smith said.