The crisis between Iran and Israel continues to grow more ominous with each passing day. International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) investigators have allegedly acquired testimony from the son-in-law of Russian nuclear scientist who was said to have been working closely with Iranian officials to help the country develop a triggering mechanism for an atomic weapon, as well as a blast containment parameter to test the detonation of the device.
Diplomats and media agents have identified the Russian expert, who is alleged to have helped the Iranians, as Vyacheslav Danilenko but say he has told IAEA investigators he was not involved in developing such a device, or in other aspects of Iran’s suspected covert work on nuclear weapons. According to the WSJ, the Obama administration has quietly drawn up plans to provide a key Persian Gulf ally with thousands of advanced “bunker-buster” bombs and other munitions, as part of a stepped-up U.S. effort to build a regional coalition to counter the Iranian nuclear program. The proposed sale of munitions to the United Arab Emirates would vastly expand the existing capabilities of the country’s air force to target fixed structures, which could include bunkers and tunnels—the kind of underground installations where Iran is believed to be developing weapons. The move represents one way the Obama administration intends to keep Iran in check, as it struggles to find adequate backing for a tougher round of UN sanctions as well as a possible military response to the Iranian nuclear program. According to an article in the Haaretz, Israel believes Iran will have the capability to produce a nuclear bomb within months.
