India Intelligence Report
 

Iran Joins Select Nuclear Club

 

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced that his country has the much-coveted technology of enrichment and that it would, in defiance of United Nations Security Council ruling, race ahead to enrich more uranium on a large scale. Asserting, “Iran has joined the nuclear countries of the world,” he said in a choreographed video demonstration of the stages that Iran has mastered. He went further to say that “the nuclear fuel cycle at the laboratory level has been completed, and uranium with the desired enrichment required for nuclear power plants was achieved.”

At first, the US responded cautiously that Iran was “moving in the wrong direction.” The European Union nations chorused that this was a “step in the wrong direction.” However, the National Security Council issued a threatening but vague statement that said the US will work with the UN “to deal with the significant threat posed by the regime’s efforts to acquire nuclear weapons.” 

 

When this announcement is considered along with bomb-making documents unearthed by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the centrifuges that Iran illegally procured from disgraced Pakistani nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan, it would appear that Iran has mastered all the necessary technologies to make a nuclear bomb. These were the technologies that the US and Europe were trying to deny the regime. While Iran has managed to enrich only up to 3.5% suitable for power generation and needs to enrich much more to achieve weapons grade uranium, the process is the same. Thankfully, Iran has only 164 known centrifuges from the Khan network. Iran needs many more centrifuges to enrich and manufacture weapons grade material. But Ahmadinejad said that he plans to double the number in a different facility and have the sites linked leading to speculation that the number procured from Pakistan may be more than 164. 

Iranian Deputy Nuclear Chief said that his country has already notified IAEA that it plans to install a 3000 centrifuge facility which will ultimately reach 54,000, which could be enough to produce power for a 1000 MW plant. It is unclear whether Iran has already procured these centrifuges or intends to procure them. 

In a rare international consensus, the US, EU members, and Russia issued a strong disapproving message to Iran and Russia asked Tehran to suspend its nuclear enrichment. However, Russia cautioned the international community to not rush into a quick judgment. Israel highlighted the serious development and said that the whole world is in danger. It pointed out that IAEA has so far not found any incriminating evidence of a nuclear weapons program though Iran’s behavior has been suspicious. 

Iran’s missile arsenal, policy, and support to terrorists targeting Israel makes it the most formidable enemy for Israel.