China Says It Is ‘Seriously Concerned’ about US Nuclear Strategic Report 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
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China Says It Is ‘Seriously Concerned’ about US Nuclear Strategic Report 

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning speaks during a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Beijing, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

China is seriously concerned about a report that said the United Stated approved a nuclear strategic plan to focus on China's rapid expansion in its nuclear arsenal, the Chinese foreign ministry said on Wednesday.

"The US is peddling the China nuclear threat narrative, finding excuses to seek strategic advantage," a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson said.

According to a report by the New York Times, US President Joe Biden approved in March a highly classified nuclear strategic plan that focused on China's quickly growing arsenal, but also seeks to prepare the US for possible coordinated nuclear challenges from China, Russia and North Korea.

"China is seriously concerned about the relevant report, and the facts have fully proved that the United States has constantly stirred up the so-called China nuclear threat theory in recent years," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning at a regular press briefing.

The White House said on Tuesday that the classified nuclear strategic plan approved by Biden this year is not a response to a single country or threat.

The US has consistently pointed to China's expansive and growing nuclear weaponry. An annual report by the Pentagon last October said China had more than 500 operational nuclear warheads in its arsenal and will probably have over 1,000 warheads by 2030.



Iran's Hard-line Parliament Approves All Members of President's Cabinet, First Time Since 2001

Iranian lawmakers attend an open session of parliament during the third day of debate on the 19 proposed ministers by President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian lawmakers attend an open session of parliament during the third day of debate on the 19 proposed ministers by President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
TT

Iran's Hard-line Parliament Approves All Members of President's Cabinet, First Time Since 2001

Iranian lawmakers attend an open session of parliament during the third day of debate on the 19 proposed ministers by President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Iranian lawmakers attend an open session of parliament during the third day of debate on the 19 proposed ministers by President Masoud Pezeshkian, in Tehran, Iran, Monday, Aug. 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Iran's hard-line parliament on Wednesday approved all members of reformist President Masoud Pezeshkian's Cabinet, the first time in over two decades a leader has been able to get all of his officials through the body.

The approval marks an early win for Pezeshkian, a longtime lawmaker who found himself catapulted into the presidency after a helicopter crash in May killed his hard-line predecessor.

Getting his officials approved shows Pezeshkian picked a Cabinet of consensus with names palatable to all of the power centers within Iran's theocracy, as opposed to going for controversial choices as well. Former Foreign Minister Mohamamad Javad Zarif, who campaigned for Pezeshkian in his election, later resigned as a vice president for the new leader over the Cabinet selections, The AP reported.

Underlining that point, Pezeshkian immediately posted an image online with him standing next to Iran's judiciary chief, and the country's parliament speaker, a hard-liner he once faced in the election.

“Consensus for Iran,” he wrote in the caption.

Among those in Pezeshkian's new Cabinet is Abbas Araghchi, 61, a career diplomat who will be Iran’s new foreign minister.

Araghchi was a member of the Iranian negotiating team that reached a nuclear deal with world powers in 2015 that capped Tehran’s nuclear program in return for the lifting of sanctions.

In 2018, then-President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal and imposed more sanctions on Iran. Pezeshkian said during his presidential campaign that he would try to revive the nuclear deal.

The candidate who received the most support from lawmakers was the country's new defense minister, Aziz Nasirzadeh, who received 281 votes out of 288 present lawmakers. The chamber has 290 seats.

Nasirzadeh was chief of the Iranian air force from 2018 to 2021.

Health Minister Mohammad Reza Zafarghandi received the lowest number of votes with 163.

The only female minister proposed, Housing and Road Minister Farzaneh Sadegh, a 47-year-old architect, received 231 votes. She is the first female minister in Iran in more than a decade.

Dropping proposed ministers has been a tradition in Iran’s parliament, making Pezeshkian's success that much more striking. Former reformist President Mohammad Khatami was the only president who received vote of confidence for all of his proposed ministers in both 1997 and 2001.