The Guardian UK reports that Iran may well have tested an advanced nuclear warhead design. The design is far more advanced than Iran was thought ot have been working on. The US believes Iran stopped warhead design in 2003, but France & Germany disagree, as surely does Israel. The Guardian offered this summary:
The UN's nuclear watchdog has asked Iran to explain evidence suggesting that Iranian scientists have experimented with an advanced nuclear warhead design, the Guardian has learned.
The very existence of the technology, known as a "two-point implosion" device, is officially secret in both the US and Britain, but according to previously unpublished documentation in a dossier compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian scientists may have tested high-explosive components of the design. The development was today described by nuclear experts as "breathtaking" and has added urgency to the effort to find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.
The sophisticated technology, once mastered, allows for the production of smaller and simpler warheads than older models. It reduces the diameter of a warhead and makes it easier to put a nuclear warhead on a missile.
The entire article merits a close read. Also read this account of Iranian pro-US anti-regime protests in Tehran on the Nov. 4 hostage anniversary. Warhead advances make regime change more imperative than ever. How to wake President Obama up on this is an increasingly urgent question.
Bottom Line. All along the assumption of American intelligence has been that Iran has a long way to go to be able to put a nuclear warhead on a missile. The Guardian story suggests that Iran is years ahead of where our intelligence agencies think it is.
Comments