Nicole Grajewski
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nicolegrajewski.bsky.social
Nicole Grajewski
@nicolegrajewski.bsky.social
Fellow with Carnegie’s Nuclear Policy Program and Associate with Harvard’s Managing the Atom | PhD from Oxford | working on nuclear issues involving Russia and Iran | author of Russia and Iran: Partners in Defiance from Syria to Ukraine (OUP/Hurst)
Anyone know the best way to ship books from the US to Europe? Or any good storage places in DC? All the google results look like spam.

Alternatively if anyone in DC wants the public papers of Clinton and Reagan, let me know.
November 9, 2025 at 5:34 PM
First post in the rebrand of my Substack from the very bland title of Russia and Iran to Axes and Atoms —a nod to every axis that Russia and Iran have been cast into, and a space to examine the military and nuclear dynamics that shape both countries. axesandatoms.substack.com/p/the-questi...
November 8, 2025 at 5:00 PM
New post on the history of Soviet and Russian hydronuclear tests axesandatoms.substack.com/p/the-questi...
November 8, 2025 at 2:13 PM
Reposted by Nicole Grajewski
It's not worth your time.
I’m calling it.

This is not a decent or good book & I recommend *not* reading it.

slapdash, mediocre style, persistent errors & misunderstandings, & too narrowly focused.

It is #NukePorn & bad even by those metrics.

Read @armscontrolwonk.bsky.social’s The 2020 Commission instead.

#NukeSky
October 30, 2025 at 7:15 PM
Poseidon belongs to a long Soviet lineage of experimenting with high-yield undersea delivery systems. These projects explored how ocean depth, pressure, and shock-wave propagation could be harnessed to shape or amplify nuclear effects. 🧵
October 29, 2025 at 11:15 PM
From a 2015 report: a long horizontal cutaway of the Poseidon shows 1) acoustic/sonar/navigation sensors; 2) combat/warhead module; 3) instrumentation/control electronics; 4) compact nuclear reactor; 5) steam-turbine
October 29, 2025 at 2:58 PM
Putin claims Russia successfully tested the Poseidon nuclear-powered underwater drone: we managed not only to launch it from the carrier submarine using its booster engine, but also to start the nuclear power unit, on which the vehicle operated for a certain period of time. t.co/3dQupIKRKW
https://www.ng.ru/news/827307.html
t.co
October 29, 2025 at 2:57 PM
Reposted by Nicole Grajewski
I was hoping I'd get around to doing a full review in the next month or so, once the vessels had gone home - but anyway, just to highlight something: there were, since August, something like 6 or 7 other potential test windows, based on vessel/aircraft movements. Below just shows since September.
October 26, 2025 at 2:44 PM
Reposted by Nicole Grajewski
Vessels appear to be beginning their migration from Matochkin Shar, northwards to monitoring positions, either side of the north island.

Current Burevestnik related NOTAMs cover out to 22 OCT.
October 19, 2025 at 11:45 AM
Joint letter from Russia, China, and Iran claims that the “termination” of UNSCR 2231’s provisions “marks the end of the Security Council’s consideration of the Iranian nuclear issue”
October 18, 2025 at 8:30 PM
A little over a year ago, Iran launched Operation True Promise II against Israel. This came amid a surge of discussions about the value of Iran’s “threshold” nuclear status to raise the costs of strikes against Iran and fill the void in Iranian conventional capabilities.
October 17, 2025 at 2:23 PM
Reposted by Nicole Grajewski
Two podcast recommendations: At "Better Know a Nuke" #IISS @bollfrass.bsky.social, SWP's Azadeh Zamirirad & @nicolegrajewski.bsky.social discuss Iran's program t.ly/A2e6k, while at "Strategic Simplicity" @pranayrvaddi.bsky.social brings experts to talk nukes policy - nonpro here t.ly/LnC5c 10/10
"Preventing an Era of Nuclear Anarchy: Nuclear Proliferation and American Security"
Toby Dalton, Francesca Giovannini, and Eric Brewer join the pod to discuss the new report by the Task Force on Nuclear Proliferation and U.S. National Security.
t.ly
October 10, 2025 at 7:46 AM
Reposted by Nicole Grajewski
Two podcast recommendations: At "Better Know a Nuke" #IISS @bollfrass.bsky.social, Azadeh Zamirirad & @nicolegrajewski.bsky.social discuss Iran’s nuclear program t.ly/A2e6k, while at "Strategic Simplicity" @pranayrvaddi.bsky.social brings experts to talk about nuclear policy t.ly/LnC5c 10/10
Spotify – Web Player
t.ly
October 10, 2025 at 7:42 AM
Reposted by Nicole Grajewski
Our latest roundtable examines the rapidly evolving global nuclear order. From North Korea to NATO, China to Latin America, this collection of essays explores the domestic and international forces reshaping nuclear security.

Full roundtable: tnsr.org/roundtable/n...
Navigating the New Nuclear Map - Texas National Security Review
The global nuclear order is undergoing rapid and complex transformations, driven by the expansion of arsenals, evolving doctrines, and the interplay of domestic and international politics. This roundt...
tnsr.org
September 30, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Nicole Grajewski
From Iran’s nuclear ambitions to great power competition over energy, this essay by @nicolegrajewski.bsky.social and Jane Darby Menton examines the complex nuclear dynamics shaping the Middle East and North Africa.

📖 Read here: tnsr.org/roundtable/n...
September 30, 2025 at 4:50 PM
Reposted by Nicole Grajewski
Read @nicolegrajewski.bsky.social and @jdmenton.bsky.social piece, "MENA at the Threshold? Proliferation Risks and Great Power Competition", in a series of essays by @tnsr.org on the shifting global nuclear order. Check it out here: tnsr.org/roundtable/n...
Navigating the New Nuclear Map - Texas National Security Review
The global nuclear order is undergoing rapid and complex transformations, driven by the expansion of arsenals, evolving doctrines, and the interplay of domestic and international politics. This roundt...
tnsr.org
September 30, 2025 at 9:14 PM
Reposted by Nicole Grajewski
How far can Moscow and Tehran really take their uneasy cooperation? @osto.bsky.social and @nicolegrajewski.bsky.social discuss.

Listen here: warontherocks.com/ep...
October 2, 2025 at 4:45 PM
Iranian entities under UNSC sanctions
September 28, 2025 at 10:08 AM
Reposted by Nicole Grajewski
Russian UNSC statement: There has been no snapback, and there will be no snapback. Any moves to resuscitate anti-Iranian Security Council resolutions that were in effect prior to 2015 are null and void.
September 26, 2025 at 8:12 PM
All pre-JCPOA UN sanctions on Iran will be reinstated tomorrow at 00:00 GMT. Read about it & how Russia might respond to the reinstatement of sanctions here: russiairan.substack.com/p/snapback-a...
Snapback and Its Discontents: Russia's Legal Rebuttal to Sanctions on Iran
Why Moscow refuses to recognize the return of UN sanctions on Iran and how it is using procedure to blunt enforcement
russiairan.substack.com
September 26, 2025 at 7:50 PM
The main sanctions that will be reimposed on Iran will be:
UNSCR 1696 (2006)
UNSCR 1737 (2006)
UNSCR 1747 (2007)
UNSCR 1803 (2008)
UNSCR 1929 (2010)
September 26, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Vote on UNSCR 2231 extension:
4 in favor
9 against
2 abstentions

Snapback is happening. All pre-JCPOA UN sanctions on Iran will be reinstated at 00:00 GMT tomorrow.
September 26, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Washington’s Ironclad Commitments Are Rusting in the Indo-Pacific | Gregory H. Winger, Miguel Alberto Gomez, and Lauren Sukin for War on the Rocks warontherocks.com/2025/09/wash...
Washington’s Ironclad Commitments Are Rusting in the Indo-Pacific
The recent wave of meetings between U.S. officials and allies in the Indo-Pacific have been studies in the duality of American diplomacy under President
warontherocks.com
September 25, 2025 at 1:05 PM
New post on Russia's position on snapback sanctions on Iran and how Moscow might try to legitimize its noncompliance once sanctions go into effect russiairan.substack.com/p/snapback-a...
Snapback and Its Discontents: Russia's Legal Rebuttal to Sanctions on Iran
Why Moscow refuses to recognize the return of UN sanctions on Iran and how it is using procedure to blunt enforcement
russiairan.substack.com
September 21, 2025 at 7:51 PM