Iran Tested Advanced Nuke Warhead Technology

Tehran said to have deployed design still classified in US, Britain
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 6, 2009 7:12 AM CST
Iran Tested Advanced Nuke Warhead Technology
The Iranian Revolutionary Guard's Tondar missile is launched in a drill near the city of Qom, Sept. 27, 2009.   (AP Photo/Fars News Agency, Ali Shaigan)

Iran has tested nuclear warhead technology so advanced that its very existence is an official secret in the US and Britain, according to a report from the UN’s nuclear watchdog group, the International Atomic Energy Agency. The dossier, obtained by the Guardian, says Iran has tested the high-explosive components of a design known as “two-point implosion,” which can produce simple, compact warheads.

Though the IAEA often treats such documents with skepticism, they say this one is so well-sourced and detailed that Iran needs to address it. “It is breathtaking that Iran could be working on this sort of material,” says a European government nuclear expert. Adds a British expert, “Before perfecting step one, they are going straight to step four or five.” (More Iran stories.)

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