Mick Hartley

From the JC:

The Iranian regime has “intensified” the weaponisation aspect of its nuclear project and is moving towards building an atomic bomb at a “rapid pace”, experts have warned.

It has long been known that Iran is accumulating enriched uranium at near-weapons grade purity, sufficient for producing fissile material for a bomb, but new findings point to advancements in the critical process of weaponisation — the regime’s capability to detonate a nuclear weapon.

The alarm was sounded by the Washington Office of the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), an opposition group which seeks to overthrow the country’s government, based on intelligence it has derived sources embedded in the Iranian regime.

According to findings presented by the NCRI at a press conference in Washington D.C. on Thursday, the regime's covert activities have intensified at least at two sites, where research, manufacturing and explosive testing has been detected in relation to nuclear detonation, including but not limited to exploding-bridgewire (EBW) detonators.

The evidence points towards an acceleration in the regime's weaponisation capability, signifying a critical step in its ability to build nuclear warheads.

Soona Samsami, the representative of the NCRI in the US, said: “While global attention remains focused on uranium enrichment levels needed to produce fissile material for a bomb, and while the world is concerned about the quantitative and qualitative expansion of uranium enrichment by the Iranian regime, the actual bomb-making has not been addressed.

“The Iranian regime is covertly working on the weaponisation aspect of its nuclear project to build a warhead, effectively obstructing verification through deceit.”

No surprise there. 

The NCRI said the Iranian regime has been severely weakened since the 2022 uprising and the fall of Bashar al-Assad in Syria. The regional balance of power has shifted dramatically against Ali Khamenei, spurring his nuclear project on. The only solution, argues Samsami, is for the regime to be overthrown, before it becomes too powerful.

“In such dire circumstances, the regime is likely to invest significantly more energy and resources in building a nuclear bomb, as confirmed by intelligence obtained by the Iranian Resistance.

“The only long-term solution to prevent the world’s most dangerous regime from obtaining the world’s most dangerous weapon is its overthrow by the people and the organised Resistance – a goal that is more attainable now than ever before.”

Well yes, of course. The prospects of the mullahs with nuclear weapons doesn't bear thinking about. They're governed not by normal political humanitarian restraints but by an apocalyptic vision of the coming of the Mahdi. Loss of life means next to nothing in such eschatalogical thinking. In the absence of any push to bring down the regime, Israel – Iran's number one target – will surely have to consider targeted strikes.