Iran May Have Conducted Nuclear Explosives Testing [The Iranian Threat]
A drawing has emerged and found itself into the hands of the Associated Press that shows Iran may have already conducted explosives testing to develop nuclear weapons. The drawing of the explosives chamber was given to the AP by an insider to the IAEA inspections program. The explosives testing chamber is supposedly located at the military site at Parchin Military complex, deep within Iran.
IAEA officials have acknowledged that the drawing was given to them by someone within the Iranian nuclear program and that is why they have failed to elaborate on any other details about the drawing or its specifics for fear it could endanger the informant’s life.
The IAEA claims it has been stonewalled by Iran while trying to verify what it claims are assertions by western powers that they have proof that Iran is developing nuclear weapons. The West has said that they first noticed the explosives containment vessel years ago in Satellite imagery and that since then there has been a large wall and roof erected over the chamber to hide it from prying eyes.
IAEA chief Yukiya Amano said in March that his agency has “credible information that indicates that Iran engaged in activities relevant to the development of nuclear explosive devices” at the site. Diplomats have also told the AP that the experiments also appear to have involved a small prototype neutron device used to spark a nuclear explosion. This type of explosive equipment would only be necessary in order to test only if a country was trying to develop atomic weapons.
Iran has maintained that it has no intention of developing, testing or deploying nuclear weapons, a charge almost universally rejected by the Western world. Iran entered six arty talks with Western powers to allow IAEA inspectors the ability to investigate claims that Iran is not developing nuclear weapons. It is widely believed that should these talks fail, Israel will be forced to launch a preemptive strike against the Iranian nuclear program.
The Iranian Threat is a weekly column by Inquistr writer H. Scott English examining the nuclear standoff between The United States and Iran. The column focuses on in-depth intelligence analysis and sources throughout the world.
