2024-09-15 17:45:24
“Two-lane road”
Secret nuclear bomb deal? USA and Britain worried
Updated on 15.09.2024 – 11:17Reading time: 3 min.
Russia is said to have received new missiles from Iran for the war in Ukraine. In return, the Kremlin could support the regime in building the atomic bomb, fear the governments in Washington and London.
The British and US governments are apparently worried that Russia is supporting Iran with nuclear technology after the regime in Tehran is said to have supplied Russia with new missiles. This is reported by the British newspaper “Guardian” citing British sources.
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The news came after British Prime Minister Keir Starmer visited US President Joe Biden in Washington on Friday. British sources said concerns were raised about Iran’s trade in nuclear technology, part of a deepening alliance between Tehran and Moscow.
Starmer and Biden did not publicly comment on a possible nuclear deal at the meeting. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, however, had already spoken out on the issue last week. “Russia, for its part, is passing on technologies that Iran is asking for. It’s a two-lane road and includes both nuclear issues and some information from space,” Blinken said at a meeting with his counterpart David Lammy in London on Tuesday.
In 2015, Iran signed an agreement with Germany and other Western countries: In it, the country spoke out against building its own nuclear weapons, which lifted economic sanctions. In 2018, then US President Donald Trump unilaterally terminated the agreement on behalf of the USA. Since then, Iran has no longer adhered to agreed limits on the amount of enriched uranium needed for a nuclear weapon.
Russia had already received a large number of Shahed combat drones from Tehran in the past, which the Russian military uses in Ukraine. According to the Ukrainian government, more than 8,000 of these kamikaze drones have been used since the start of the war.
Several Western governments recently accused Iran of wanting to equip Russia with short-range ballistic missiles. According to the British Ministry of Defense, these are Fath-360 weapons, also known as BM-120. The missiles, which were first introduced in 2020, can carry a 150-kilogram warhead up to 120 kilometers and hit their target with an alleged accuracy of 30 meters.
Russia and Iran have so far denied such a delivery. Germany, Great Britain and other allies nevertheless announced new sanctions against Iran. The government in Tehran strongly rejected the allegations and summoned several European diplomats.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has also recently expressed concerns about the Iranian nuclear program. The reason for this is the ongoing increase in highly enriched uranium, as IAEA chief Rafael Grossi explained in a report. The stock of this almost weapons-grade material increased by around 23 kilograms to almost 165 kilograms between May and August.
According to experts, uranium must be enriched to around 90 percent for use in nuclear weapons. Iran officially insists that it is not striving for a nuclear arsenal. Grossi, however, pointed out that apart from nuclear weapons states, no other country other than Iran produces such highly enriched uranium.
Grossi also stated in the non-public report that Tehran is still not talking to the Vienna-based nuclear authority about open questions about past secret nuclear activities. No talks have taken place since the election of the new Iranian President Massoud Peseschkian in early July, Grossi reported. In addition, Tehran is sticking to its decision not to allow IAEA inspectors into the country.
Britain, France and Germany jointly warned at the end of August that Iran’s stockpile of highly enriched uranium had continued to grow significantly “without credible civilian justification”.