The UN's nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, has questioned Tehran about evidence that Iran has experimented with an advanced nuclear detonation technology. According to a new report by the Guardian, the technology would allow Iran to make smaller and simpler warheads than would be possible with first-generation nuclear weapons.
The very existence of the technology, known as a "two-point implosion" device, is officially secret in both the US and Britain, but according to previously unpublished documentation in a dossier compiled by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iranian scientists may have tested high-explosive components of the design. The development was today described by nuclear experts as "breathtaking" and has added urgency to the effort to find a diplomatic solution to the Iranian nuclear crisis.
So, how confident should we be that we have plenty of time to cope with Iran's nuclear weapons ambitions?
And on a related matter, who needs a full missile defense system in eastern Europe that can actually protect America from long-range Iranian nukes?
