Factbox: Iran, North Korea and the Yellow Brick ?Red Line?

Since WWII, when atomic bombs were dropped on Japanese cities Hiroshima and Nagasaki, a host of countries have gained access to nuclear weapons far more powerful than the ones that struck those cities. That there have been no other nuclear attacks is a tribute to either the benevolent natures of world leaders or the imponderable luck of humanity. Historically, too few world leaders have been guided by benevolence. In the second case, humanity hasn't been particularly lucky at anything. Can we afford to ignore today's nuclear facts?

* North Korea this week conducted its third underground nuclear test, forcing a rewrite of President Barack Obama's 2013 State of the Union message, according to The Guardian.

* The Guardian blogger Julian Borger makes the point that the intent of the latest North Korean nuclear test was not to produce a bigger bomb but a smaller, miniaturized warhead that can be delivered on the head of a missile.

* The Associated Press reports that North Korea, which has already managed to put an intercontinental rocket into orbit, is upgrading its launch pads with the cooperation of Iranian scientists.

* Scientist Siegried Hecker, writing in Foreign Policy about his visit to North Korea, says the North Koreans have the technology to produce highly enriched uranium (HEU) which can be mounted on an intermediate range delivery missile.

* Hecker believes the North Koreans purchased plans for an HEU nuclear weapon and delivery system from rogue Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan.

* Khan is the father of the Pakistani nuclear program and revered as a national hero. He admitted he sold nuclear secrets to Iran, Libya, and North Korea, and says he acted alone, according to The Telegraph.

* The U.S. has never been permitted by Pakistan to question Khan about the sale of nuclear weapons technology. Khan once enjoyed a comfortable house arrest but moves freely throughout Pakistan and has founded a political party, according to The Telegraph.

* A person identifying as nuclear scientist Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan uses the Twitter account @DrAQ_Khan to communicate with his constituencies.

* Iran, also aided by nuclear technology gained from Khan, has accelerated its nuclear processes at its Fordow facility where it has an estimated 3,000 centrifuges "producing material enriched to 20 percent, which can be turned into weapons-grade uranium much more quickly," according to CBS News and the AP.

* Iran has stockpiles of 3.5 percent enriched uranium which would take about six months to further enrich to weapons grade material. Iran also has an unknown quantity of 20 percent enriched uranium which could be converted to weapons grade within a month, according to Arms Control Now.

* Iran Military News analyzed an Associated Press story about "secret" weaknesses and flaws in the U.S. anti-missile shield installed in Eastern Europe to protect American interests outside the U.S.

* The Washington Times reports that the entire U.S. could be reached from Iranian ship-based missiles but says the greatest danger to the country could be a successful Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack, wiping out the nation's communications infrastructure. An EMP attack could be instigated by high-altitude nuclear explosion which would leave little or no forensic evidence to determine where it originated.

* Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year unsuccessfully pressed President Obama to draw a "red line" beyond which the U.S. would take military action against Iranian nuclear facilities, reports the New York Times.

* There were no valentines Thursday for a U.N. team of nuclear inspectors returned from unsuccessful talks in Tehran aimed at persuading Iran to curb uranium enrichment, according to Reuters -- the results prompted an International Atomic Energy Agency official to ask "if this (talks) is still the right tactic."

Anthony Ventre is a freelance writer and a Yahoo! contributor in news, commentary, and financial writing.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/factbox-iran-north-korea-yellow-brick-red-line-174400429.html

Ledecky Nadia Comaneci Rebecca Soni Snoop Lion London 2012 Table Tennis badminton Dominique Dawes