With All Eyes on Iran, North Korea Nuked Up
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Will they talk or not? We'll get the latest on potential U.S.-Iran diplomacy as the end of a 10-day ceasefire looms. Plus, with the world's focus elsewhere, North Korea speeds up work on its nuclear program, and scientists close in on treatments to stop the genetic driver of lung cancer.
It is so hard to target that researchers named it the Death Star. This weekend, researchers presented early results from two experimental drugs that they're enthusiastic could work against it.
It's Monday, April 20th. I'm Luke Vargas for The Wall Street Journal, and here is the AM edition of What's News, the top headlines and business stories moving your world today. After a three-week-long rally that has brought U.S. stocks to record highs, investors are once again bracing for uncertainty following a whirlwind of developments in the Iran war. Hopes had been raised last week for an end to the conflict and that the Strait of Hormuz was reopening to shipping traffic until Iran on Saturday said that the strait remained closed. In a series of social media posts yesterday, President Donald Trump called that a total violation of the ceasefire agreement and threatened to knock out all of Iran's bridges and power plants if Tehran doesn't agree to peace talks before the truce expires on Wednesday.
Journal Middle East reporter Felice Solomon told us that expectations for a diplomatic breakthrough are beginning the week at a low point.
There's still a lot of uncertainty about how these talks are going to pan out. The two sides left the last round of talks very far apart on key issues, particularly Iran's future uranium enrichment.
What are the latest developments in U.S.-Iran diplomacy?
And that had actually been one of the key sticking points from the beginning. Right now, the U.S. is pushing for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz for commercial shipping, freeze enrichment of uranium for at least 20 years, and agree to remove its stockpiles of enriched uranium. If the talks happen, we'll see if Iran is willing to engage on some of these points. So far, it has signaled that it's not open to some of these demands. Iranian state media has said that they're excessive and considers Washington's blockade of the Strait of Hormuz to be a violation of the ceasefire.
Separately, the U.S. yesterday seized an Iranian ship that had attempted to get past its blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. The ship, which was previously sanctioned by the U.S. and has frequently visited Chinese ports, was intercepted by an American destroyer after ignoring U.S. demands that it stop.
Motor vessel Tosca. Motor vessel Tosca. Vacate your engine room. Vacate your engine room. We're prepared to subject you to disabling fire.
China's foreign ministry didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Wary of the potential long-term economic consequences of the war, the United Arab Emirates has asked the U.S. about offering it a financial lifeline. We exclusively report that could include a currency swap line, which would give the Emirates central bank cheap access to dollars in order to prop up its currency or shore up its foreign reserves. Emirati officials haven't made a formal request yet, but we report that they have argued it was President Trump's idea to attack Iran and that should they run out of dollars, the country could be forced to use the Chinese yuan for oil sales, an implicit threat to the U.S. dollar, which enjoys near-exclusive use in oil transactions.
The UAE's central bank didn't respond to requests for comment, and a Fed spokesperson declined to comment. Meanwhile, with the world's focus on Iran, North Korea has accelerated work on its nuclear weapons program. Our Korea Bureau Chief Tim Martin is in Seoul. Tim, what's the news here? What have we missed?
North Korea has been very busy. They've come near completion of a new facility at its main Yongbyon nuclear site.
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