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Video May Prove Iran's Nuclear Intentions

[Ha'aretz] Yossi Melman - A secret video produced by Iranian nuclear scientists depicts a computerized simulation of the detonation of a warhead, most likely a nuclear one. The film was screened on Feb. 26, 2008, by Finnish nuclear physicist Olli Heinonen, the IAEA's deputy director general and head of its inspection department, for representatives of the 35 member states that constitute the IAEA's board of governors. Heinonen is known to oppose the conciliatory approach toward Iran that has for years been the policy of IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei. The video depicted a computer simulation showing a launched warhead reentering the atmosphere and exploding 600 meters above the earth's surface - the ideal altitude for detonating a nuclear bomb in order to generate the maximum degree of destruction on the ground. At the briefing, Heinonen noted that the type of warhead represented could fit an Iranian Shahab missile. In addition, Heinonen displayed documents in Farsi, which he said dated back to July 2003-January 2004, which included sketches showing a machine that can produce light-weight aluminum warheads. One can assume the Iranians have conducted research and calculations for weaponization - how to assemble a nuclear device - as part of a secret military nuclear program alongside their civilian one. Three years earlier, secret documents reached the IAEA claiming that Iran was involved in secret research for weaponization purposes. David Albright, a former IAEA inspector, explained last month that the scientist who smuggled out the secret data was an agent for German intelligence, who vanished without a trace soon afterward.
2009-10-16 06:00:00
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