With that in mind, has Iran been taunting Israel to strike one of Iran’s nuke sites so that Iran can retaliate with nuclear weapons while claiming self defense. Obviously Iran knows Israel will retaliate - what’s left of it - but do they really care? They need major destruction all around to bring the 12’th Imam from his hole...
I think it’s safe to assume Iran has anything Syria does, they signed a mutual defense pact a couple years ago, and there are numerous examples of military and financial cooperation in weapons acquisition between the two.
It’s important to note, however, that Korea’s lone nuclear test was a fizzle, and that Iran’s weapons program has been largely based on Pakistani assisstance, and to the best of my knowlege, Pakistan does not have a viable (or successfully tested)design for a plutonium weapon.
Iran may well be in position of having core fuel for a plutonium weapon, and blueprints for a Pakistani uranium core weapon design. Bridging a gap like that would take time, Pakistan’s nuclear expert Khan is supposedly off the market and in any event, generals are usually unwilling to bet their whole armies on untested “super-weapons”.
To be on the safe side, it’s probably best to assume Iran has 1 to 3 assembled high energy devices, all of which are untested. I’d strongly hesitate before assuming they could fit any of these to a missile warhead, where size and weight are critical restrictions.
“If Syria got weapons grade plutonium from North Korea, why does anyone believe Iran didn’t get it some time ago? And if Iran has had weapons grade plutonium for some time now, why would anyone believe they haven’t already made weapons from it? They are far more capable than Syria.
With that in mind, has Iran been taunting Israel to strike one of Iran’s nuke sites so that Iran can retaliate with nuclear weapons while claiming self defense. Obviously Iran knows Israel will retaliate - what’s left of it - but do they really care? They need major destruction all around to bring the 12’th Imam from his hole...”
You can already see the results of this concern in the less than determinative comments coming from both Israel and the US. You hit it squarely on the head and there’s little doubt Iran had a funding and operational role in the Syrian plant.
That Iran would not have received shipments themselves is of course the most troubling aspect of this story. Thus the conditions by the US to North Korea to provide exchange information by year’s end.
My sense is that information will not be provided. But if North Korea is cornered enough to do so, expect to Tehran as one of the addresses for its atomic weapons fuel.
Excellent summary. I completely agree.
Far more capable - and, at the fringe, a lot nuttier. Good points, DB.