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| | The Truth Seekers Network is not currently active and cannot accept new posts | | North Korea helping Iran prepare for underground nuclear test ... | Views: 503 | | Jan 25, 2007 6:19 am | | North Korea helping Iran prepare for underground nuclear test ... | # | 
James Booth | | Thursday, January 25, 2007
‘North Korea helping Iran prepare for nuclear test’
Daily Times Monitor
LAHORE: " The standoff between Iran and the West over its alleged clandestine nuclear programme looks set to increase with a report emerging on Wednesday in a British newspaper asserting that Tehran has been acquiring North Korean assistance in preparation for its first underground nuclear test, which European officials believe could take place as early as the end of the year.
According to The Daily Telegraph, Tehran and Pyongyang have expanded their traditional military ties to the nuclear level, with the reclusive Stalinist state sharing with Iranian nuclear scientists all data and information pertaining to the first-ever North Korean underground nuclear test conducted last October.
The news is set to exacerbate tensions between Tehran and western capitals. However, it appears that Iran was aware that the development would soon be made public. Just two days earlier, it barred 38 nuclear inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) from operating on its territory, in a move that has already been slammed by France as evidence of Iranian discrimination against westerners from the United Nations nuclear watchdog’s inspection team.
The latest revelations also comes in the wake of last month’s UN Security Council resolution imposing ‘smart’ sanctions against Iran, which bans transfers of sensitive materials and technological know-how to Tehran’s nuclear and missile programmes in retaliation for the Islamic republic’s refusal to halt uranium enrichment.
The British paper quotes an unnamed senior European defence official as confirming that Pyongyang had invited a team of Iranian nuclear scientists to study the results of its nuclear test, adding that Tehran was likely planning to conduct its own first-ever nuclear test by the end of 2007.
“The Iranians are working closely with the North Koreans to study the results of last year’s North Korean nuclear bomb test . . . We have identified increased activity at all of Iran’s nuclear facilities since the turn of the year. All the indications are that the Iranians are working hard to prepare for their own underground nuclear test.”
The defence official’s assessment appears to support previously unconfirmed reports that an Iranian delegation was present in North Korea when Pyongyang conducted its test.
The paper also noted that senior western military officials believe that North Korea’s technical superiority will allow Iran to accelerate its nuclear capability.
The Daily Telegraph reports that although intelligence estimates vary about how long it could take Tehran to produce a nuclear warhead, defence officials monitoring the growing co-operation between the two ‘axis of evil’ nations have determined that Iran could be poised to test fire a low-grade device — less than half a kiloton — within 12 months.
They add that while the precise location of the Iranian site remains unknown, it will likely be located in a mountainous region where it is difficult for spy satellites to pick up any unusual activity. "
- http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2007%5C01%5C25%5Cstory_25-1-2007_pg7_47Private Reply to James Booth | | |
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