THE West fears Iran is on the verge of getting a workable nuclear weapon with Russia’s help.
For many years, Iran has been enriching uranium. It seems to have enough to make a nuclear warhead.
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But it needs two other things to turn the uranium into a mega-destructive nuclear weapon.
We know it has the missiles needed. It would take only one nuclear-armed rocket to get through to wreak havoc.
But the most important component of a nuclear weapon is the detonator in the missile’s warhead.
It sets off the nuclear explosion on target.
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If the detonator doesn’t work, they would be just tossing a lump of radioactive rock at an enemy — polluting, not devastating.
This is where Russian help could be decisive.
Russia has been making nuclear weapons since 1949, but Iran has yet to test a nuclear warhead.
The West and Israel could detect the earthquake set off by an underground nuclear explosion.
Russia, like America, has mastered the technology to test nuclear warheads without an explosion which would alert the world.
If Russia is sharing nuclear secrets with Iran in return for conventional missiles for Putin’s attack on Ukraine, Iran could have working nuclear weapons within months.
Doing that would break UN sanctions, but Putin has already shown contempt for them by doing arms deals with North Korea.
Russia’s willingness to cooperate with rogue states like Iran and North Korea makes the risk of Iran going nuclear by early 2025 rise alarmingly.
While the West dithers over aid to give Ukraine to defend itself, Russia is helping Iran speed towards having its own bomb.
Shifting the West’s attention to the Middle East from Ukraine suits Putin. But this isn’t a game of whack-a-mole.
If Russia is turning Iran into a nuclear power, the chain reaction could engulf the world far beyond its borders.
