The U.S. Announces New Nuclear Strategy Focused on Countering Russian Actions

Based on the new nuclear strategy announced by the Trump administration, the United States is primarily seeking to revise its nuclear arsenal and develop new low-yield nuclear weapons, mainly to counteract Russia's actions in recent years. This report, published on Friday, February 1, outlines the nuclear objectives of the U.S. Department of Defense during Trump's presidency and is the first report since 2010 that includes the U.S. military's predictions of nuclear threats in the coming decades. The report emphasizes that Russia must be convinced that if it threatens Europe with even limited nuclear attacks, it will face unbearable costs. This 75-page report, prepared by U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis, states that 'this report is a response to the expansion of Russia's capabilities and the nature of its strategies and doctrines.' The new strategy also highlights U.S. concerns regarding Iran, North Korea, and China. The report specifically addresses Russia's doctrine known as 'escalate to de-escalate,' under which Moscow may use low-yield nuclear weapons in limited conventional conflicts in Europe or threaten to do so to force the U.S. or NATO to retreat. The review stresses that 'recent Russian statements about developing nuclear weapon doctrines indicate a lowering of Moscow's threshold for the first use of nuclear weapons.' The new U.S. nuclear strategy proposes a two-step solution in this regard: modifying a small number of ballistic missiles carried by submarines to adapt them for low-yield nuclear warheads, and in the long term, developing a sea-based cruise missile launch platform; weapons that existed during the Cold War but were retired in 2011 by order of then-President Barack Obama. In the new U.S. nuclear strategy, North Korea is described as a 'clear and grave threat' to the U.S. and its allies, warning that any nuclear attack by North Korea on the U.S. or its allies would lead to the end of the Pyongyang regime. The strategy emphasizes that there is no scenario under which North Korea could use nuclear weapons and remain in power. The report on the status of U.S. nuclear capabilities is typically prepared and presented in the first year of a new administration in the U.S. and has already drawn significant criticism from nuclear disarmament advocacy groups. However, in addition to these criticisms, Russia also strongly condemned the new U.S. nuclear strategy on Saturday, describing it as a 'disappointing,' 'confrontational,' and 'anti-Russian' report. In Iran, Bahram Qasemi, the spokesman for the Foreign Ministry, in an exclusive interview with the state news agency IRNA, made statements that seem to respond to the new U.S. nuclear strategy, stating that 'the U.S. and some countries that produce and export deadly weapons cannot, through deception, export hundreds of billions of dollars of destructive weapons to this sensitive region while simultaneously judging Iran's defensive capabilities.' Mr. Qasemi accused the U.S. of 'commercializing security' and 'extorting from intimidated countries.' The new U.S. administration is a serious critic of the Iran nuclear deal with world powers, and last month, when announcing the extension of the suspension of sanctions against Iran under the nuclear deal, Trump threatened that this would be the last time he would extend the suspension of sanctions and emphasized the need to correct the flaws of this agreement. Mr. Trump set four conditions for continued U.S. participation in the JCPOA, which include inspections of all Iranian sites requested by international inspectors, guarantees against approaching nuclear weapons, the permanence of the JCPOA, and limitations on Iran's long-range missile program; because, according to Mr. Trump, long-range missiles and Iran's nuclear weapons program are 'inseparable.'