(Geopolitics/History)

The latest fatal helicopter crash in Iran won't change the current power structure in Tehran—the aged "Supreme Leader" is the only figure that truly matters in the theocratic state, and he is still as alive as the nuclear issue.

Creating a uranium explosive device requires a process called implosion. This involves surrounding a plutonium or uranium core with precisely milled explosive plates that detonate simultaneously to compress the sphere of enriched material. Such compression triggers a runaway chain reaction.

There is currently no tell-tale sign that Iran has mastered this technology. If they had, the resulting explosion on their test site would be detectable through earthquake monitors.

What if Iran demonstrates the ability to initiate a nuclear reaction but lacks the capability to deliver a weapon? Too bad. It would immediately become vulnerable to preemptive strikes by Israel, already a hush-hush nuclear power. Iran is aware of this.

For the past 25 years, the media has repeatedly claimed that Iran is just six months away from becoming a nuclear power. It may be more believable that Saudi Arabia, Iran's rival, has purchased nuclear weapons with its vast wealth.

Anyway, Israel would not stand idly by if Iran could create a mushroom cloud over the Jewish state. History is indicative of that. On June 7, 1981, fourteen Israeli fighter jets struck and destroyed the Osirak nuclear reactor in Saddam Hussein's Iraq in a mission codenamed "Operation Opera."

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei would not welcome Operation Opera II.

Author: renqiulan