Iran And The Nuclear Bomb

The first nuclear bomb was detonated on July 16, 1945 in the desert of New Mexico. It was a great feat of achievement for the United States. As a result, two atomic bombs were dropped onto the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in less than a month later. That was the only instance when nuclear weapons were used against another nation.
Almost sixty-six years have passed since then. The US is no longer the only nation to possess nuclear weapons. Russia, UK, France, China, India and Pakistan have the bomb in their arsenal. Israel and North Korea are speculated to have nuclear weapons while Iran is suspected of working on acquiring nuclear weapons. Mankind is still besieged by the fear that a nuclear weapon might be used against another nation in a war or as an act of terror. One of the greatest mistakes of man, apart from building a weapon that has the potential to wipe out all life forms from the face of Earth, is the failure to devise a workable defense against a nuclear attack. Missile interceptors are not an absolute defense against nuclear weapons. This "invincibility" combined with its destructive force is the reason why nuclear weapons are feared by every nation on this planet.
The current buzz is surrounding the nuclear activities of Iran. The US and its allies, particularly Israel, are concerned with the nuclear intention of Iran's leadership. Ironically, it was the US and its allies that assisted Iran's nuclear activities in the 1970s through the Atoms for Peace program. Iran, at the time, was under the reign of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi. The Shah was replaced after the Iranian Revolution in 1978 and Iran was established as an Islamic republic.
In assessing the nuclear threat from Iran, I attempted to understand their intentions and capabilities. These are the two important factors that need examining if we are to understand the direction of Iran's nuclear train.

Energy or bomb? That's what analysts and intelligence experts are having a hard time trying to prove. The US, Israel and other allied nations are quite certain that Iran is working towards building a nuclear bomb. In order to provide fuel for nuclear energy plants, the uranium used has to be enriched to 5% while a nuclear weapon would require it to be enriched to 90%, at least. Recently, Iran announced that it would triple its efforts to enrich uranium to a higher concentration of 20%. At 20%, the uranium can be used to fuel medical reactors. It also plans to move the enrichment activities to an underground facility. It can take up to a year to move from 5% enrichment to 20% enrichment. However, once enriched to 20%, the uranium stock can be further enriched to a weapons-grade 90% level within two weeks.
Another indication to Iran's intention is an article posted on the official website of its Revolutionary Guards, who are responsible for Iran's nuclear program. The article discusses the reaction of the world a day after Iran tests its first nuclear bomb. It is perplexing that a nation that has consistently maintained that it has no intentions of acquiring nuclear weapons would ponder such a scenario. Iran has also repeatedly announced that the destruction of Israel is imminent. Iran has gone to the extent of displaying banners that read "Death to America! Death to Israel!" during its military parades. It does seem that Iran has the intentions to build an A-bomb and, most likely, launch it against Israel.
However, is it possible that a nation would risk the retaliation that would follow such an act? According to a former CIA spy who infiltrated the Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian leaders hold strongly to the prophesied arrival of the twelfth Shiite Imam, Imam Mahdi, who will establish a global Islamic nation. Apparently, there has to be considerable chaos in the world in order for the Imam to appear. He will only appear when the world is on the verge of apocalypse. The Iranian leaders believe that by creating the environment for the arrival of their Imam, they are performing a holy act. If this is true, the Iranians would welcome a retaliation rather than fear it!

A nuclear weapon requires fissile material, either uranium or plutonium, and a delivery system. According to the latest IAEA data, Iran has sufficient amount of uranium for at least three bombs. Iran has also been working quite aggressively at improving its missile capabilities. Although they are not known to have any Inter-continental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs), Iran has medium-range missiles that can hit Israel, any location within the gulf and Western Europe. An IAEA report dated May 24th, states that Iran is close to producing a nuclear warhead that could be carried by one of their medium-range missiles. Iran has also, reportedly, re-designed the cone of its Shehab-3 missile to carry a nuclear warhead. Iran is not short on capabilities to build and deliver a nuclear payload.
There are many more details that can be discussed but it would be unnecessary since they all point to one thing. Iran is building nuclear weapons and is on track to having them very soon. As the international community continues to apply pressure on the Iranian leadership via sanctions, we can only hope that the world does not see another mushroom cloud.