Posted on 09/05/2017 10:32:59 AM PDT by b4its2late
U.S. officials are closely monitoring an ongoing meeting between senior North Korean and Iranian officials that comes on the heels of a nuclear test by Pyongyang, according to senior Trump administration officials and other sources who expressed concern that North Korea is helping to put the Islamic Republic back on the pathway to a functional nuclear weapon.
Sources told the Washington Free Beacon that Pyongyang continues to stockpile illicit nuclear material on Iran's behalf in order to help the Islamic Republic skirt restrictions implemented under the landmark nuclear deal.
North Korea's latest nuclear test of a hydrogen bomb has roiled Trump administration officials and led President Donald Trump to consider multiple options for war. However, it also has renewed fears among U.S. officials and foreign policy insiders about Pyongyang's long-standing relationship with Iran, which centers on providing the Islamic Republic with nuclear technology and know-how.
The head of North Korea's parliament arrived this weekend in Iran for a 10-day visit aimed at boosting ties between the two countries amid an international crackdown on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons program, a situation U.S. officials tell the Free Beacon is being closely monitored.
As North Korea makes progress in its nuclear pursuits, it is likely this information is being shared with senior Iranian officials who continue to maintain and build upon the country's weapons program, despite the nuclear agreement, which only limits a portion of Iran's nuclear enrichment and research abilities.
One senior U.S. official currently handling the Iranian and North Korean nuclear portfolios told the Free Beacon that the collaboration between these two countries is being closely monitored by the Trump administration, which will not hesitate to take action to disrupt this relationship.
"The history of collaboration between North Korea and Iran has been an ongoing concern and needs to be watched closely," the official told the Free Beacon. "We've been laboring under the false assumption that these oppressive regimes are rational and that we can persuade them to act for the greater good. President Trump has made it clear those days are at an end, and that the United States will do what is necessary to prevent Iran from turning into another North Korea."
Iran and North Korea have long collaborated on their missile programs and nuclear technology, and the U.S. intelligence community continues to monitor ongoing efforts by the two countries to boost cooperation.
Kim Yong Nam, the head of North Korea's parliament, reportedly arrived in Iran on Thursday for a high-profile meeting with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani that is likely to center around Tehran's quest for technology and North Korea's need for hard currency and financial assets.
Iran has been flush with cash and other financial assets since the nuclear agreement lifted international sanctions and opened the Islamic Republic to new business ties.
Rep. Ron DeSantis (R., Fla.), a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee and the National Security Subcommittee, told the Free Beacon that the increased ties are cause for concern, particularly in light of Iran's renewed economic success.
"Given that Kim Jong Un is a plump, immature kid who only rules because of accident of birth, it is not clear that he can, through traditional means, be deterred from commencing an attack against the United States using his nuclear arsenal," DeSantis told the Free Beacon. "What is completely clear is that Kim is willing to transfer nuclear technology to, and assist with nuclear development for, rogue regimes such as Iran."
"Thanks to the Obama-Khamenei nuclear deal, Iran is flush with cash and has the capacity to be a willing buyer for nuclear material," DeSantis said. "This represents a major threat to the United States and should be taken seriously."
North Korea's latest nuclear test has sparked a fierce war of words with the Trump administration, which announced on Monday that it is considering a range of military options.
United Nation's Ambassador Nikki Halley said that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is "begging for war" and urged the U.N.'s Security Council to consider a strong response.
"Enough is enough," Haley was quoted as saying. "War is never something the United States wants. We don't want it now. But our country's patience is not unlimited."
Israeli officials also have warned that North Korea's latest test is a boon to Iran's own nuclear program.
"The international response, led by the U.S., to the North Korean regime's provocations, sheds light on how it will behave toward the Iranian regime on their nuclear efforts in the near future," Moshe Ya'alon, a former Israeli defense minister, tweeted. "Although the nuclear test is not our issue, the tension should concern us."
Iran and North Korea have been sharing nuclear materials and know-how for well over a decade, according to sensitive intelligence community communications published by WikiLeaks and dating as far back as 2009.
The Obama administration took little action during its time in office to thwart this growing alliance, leading to increased nuclear ties between Iran and North Korea, multiple sources said.
In order to comply with the nuclear agreement, Iran outsourced much of its nuclear technology to North Korea, according to multiple sources, who pointed to evidence of a key 2015 meeting between the two countries surrounding the nuclear portfolio.
Iran also has opened ballistic missile factories in Syria with the help of Russia and North Korea, according to regional reports.
"North Korea and Iran's military and political ties are long-standing, and can be traced back to the 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq War, the same time that Tehran developed an interest in nuclear and missile technology," said Behnam Ben Taleblu, an Iran analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
"North Korea's provision of the Nodong-A liquid fueled medium-range ballistic missile to Iran in the 1990s enabled the mullahs to make significant strides in the missile program and eventually even their satellite launch-vehicle technology," Ben Taleblu explained.
"While some may see the long-standing missile relationship as merely evidence of the two countries' interest in conventional munitions, these missiles are capable of carrying nuclear payloads, and offer both rogues the ultimate deterrent weapon with which to ensure regime survival," he said.
Iranian officials and scientists have been spotted at several of North Korea's key nuclear test, fueling speculation that the two countries are in close contact on the issue.
"What is almost certain, however, is the following: both in the post- and pre-JCPOA [or Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, the formal name for the Iran deal] era, the two closely watched how each one negotiated with the international community, what deals it struck, the lies that worked and didn't work, and where and how it could supplement resolve for material capability," Ben Taleblu said.
Michael Rubin, a former Pentagon adviser and expert on rogue regimes, further told the Free Beacon that it is suspected North Korean officials played a role in helping Iran recently test fire a series of ballistic missiles, which sparked international outrage and accusations the Islamic Republic is violating legally binding bans on such behavior.
"For those who want to deny the links between Pyongyang and Tehran, it's easy so long as they ignore their military, diplomatic, and economic ties," Rubin said. "It's doubtful there has been a single Iranian missile test where North Korean scientists weren't present, nor a North Korean test where Iranian scientists didn't have a front row seat."
One veteran congressional foreign policy adviser who works on the Iran portfolio told the Free Beacon that efforts to promote a new North Korean nuclear deal in the same vein as the Iran agreement are fruitless, and would only strengthen Pyongyang's appetite to publicly test its nuclear weaponry.
"The same people who sold the Iran deal are now trying to sell what they call an ‘Iran deal for North Korea,'" the source said. "It's the same groups, the same people, and the same playbook. Up until this weekend's nuclear test, they were telling journalists that diplomacy has time to work, that North Korea is still years away from an H-Bomb, and—of course—that additional pressure would lead to war."
"Now, all at once, their narratives about Iran and North Korea are both colliding with reality," the source added. "The cost for American national security is staggering."
Rubin went on to describe the North Korean stand-off as a glimpse into future situations with Iran.
"North Korea is a crystal ball into the future of the Iranian nuclear agreement, and the current diplomatic behavior in which there will be no support for inspections, which risk finding Iran in violation and imperiling the agreement, fits the pattern to a ‘T,'" Rubin said. "In addition, one of the biggest holes to which the Obama administration agreed was not recognizing that Iranian nuclear work doesn't necessarily take place in Iran."
Iran has been flush with cash and other financial assets since the nuclear agreement lifted international sanctions and opened the Islamic Republic to new business ties.
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Sept 5, 2017
The US said on Monday it would table a new UN resolution on tougher sanctions in the wake of the latest test of a nuclear bomb by the North on Sunday.
Mr Putin also said that the ramping up of “military hysteria” could lead to global catastrophe.
He said diplomacy was the only answer.
China, the North’s main ally, has also called for a return to negotiations. ...”
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-41158281
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“Despite efforts by the United Nations to impose isolating sanctions on North Korea in response to the country’s continued development of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles, trade between Russia and North Korea soared more than 85 percent in the first four months of the year.”
http://www.dw.com/en/russia-steps-up-north-korea-support-to-constrain-us/a-38867861
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From the Sino-Russian Joint Statement of April 23, 1997:
"The two sides [China and Russia] shall, in the spirit of partnership, strive to promote the multipolarization of the world and the establishment of a new international order."
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/HI29Ag01.html
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"Joint war games are a logical outcome of the Sino-Russian Friendship and Cooperation Treaty signed in 2001, and reflect the shared worldview and growing economic ties between the two Eastern Hemisphere giants."
http://www.heritage.org/research/commentary/2005/09/war-games-russia-china-grow-alliance
Remember those side deals Obama forged with Iran that were not part of the text of the official treaty? Now we are finding out some of the details.
Yesterday, the Washington Free Beacon reported that Iranian officials confirmed they have received at least $10 billion in cash, commodities, and assets from Washington since 2013. And that is likely a conservative estimate.
But cash is not the only thing the Islamic Republic of Iran is receiving for gracing us with their willingness to sign onto our own capitulation.
The AP is reporting that Russia, with the support of President Obama, is shipping Iran 116 metric tons of natural uranium.
While Iranian officials have obviously declined to disclose the use of such uranium, AP notes that this is enough to enrich weapons-grade uranium for nuclear bombs:
“Despite present restrictions on its enrichment program, however, the amount of natural uranium is significant should Iran decide to keep it in storage, considering its potential uses once some limits on Tehran’s nuclear activities start to expire in less than a decade.
David Albright, whose Institute of Science and International Security often briefs U.S. lawmakers on Iran’s nuclear program, says the shipment could be enriched to enough weapons-grade uranium for more than 10 simple nuclear bombs, “depending on the efficiency of the enrichment process and the design of the nuclear weapon.” ...”
calm down chicken little
the sky is not falling
Well duh! Who’d have ever expected that? /s
In the short run, at least, his signature diplomatic undertaking can be counted on to bring more violence to this volatile region.
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, as the [Obama-Putin Iran deal] agreement is formally known, provides the world's leading state sponsor of terrorism an infusion of somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 billion of unfrozen assets and a great deal more of continuing revenues as businesses and governments around the world rush to profit from oil-and-gas-rich Iran's reintegration into the world economy.
The agreement relaxes the international isolation of the Islamic Republic and ratifies Tehran's status as a nuclear threshold state. And it relieves restrictions on Iran's acquisition of weapons, including ballistic missiles. ..."
Congress enabled and watched it all transpire. Damn them to Hell.If I can assume the worst can happen,than it is within the realm of possibility. This country cannot be allowed to be boxed in by rogue nuclear regimes. One day may come where the button is pushed by an enemy or a devise sneaks into this country.
Both North Korea and Iran are pawns for Russia and China.
Yes, they did. They watched Clinton, Bush and Obama.
Good post.
Here is an excellent (unclassified) report used by the CIA to determine yield:
http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a223490.pdf
The claims by the Norks are highly suspect as the depth of the blast and the rock density are unknown. That’s why it’s called a heavily censored explosive yield.
I have seen the sniffing reports done by the Chinese and no radioactive markers have been released so far that are beyond background radiation.
If, if the 6.3 magnitude holds and that is unlikely, there is an absolute upper yield of around 600 kilotons. Looks like the magnitude will probably settle in at 5.9 so the upper theoretical yield would be no more than about 370 kilotons.
Guessing at the depth of the blast is difficult. Given that the blast cavern has already likely collapsed, with no surface emission the depth was likely at least 300 meters.
The rock density is fairly soft in that area allowing manual mining historically. So, the blast yield would likely be in the 110 to 160 kiloton range.
That is still a significant improvement for the Norks.
Boosted fission is very likely. The Nork’s main problem is acquiring refined beryllium. They have the ore but lack the very tricky refining technology. Even the Chinese have to buy it.
Without a significant beryllium neutron reflector, air blasts would be very inefficient compared to an underground test.
I feel so secure knowing we are monitoring their meetings but letting them continue testing.
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