Did Iran conduct an underground nuclear test on October 5? There is no doubt that Iran will create an atomic bomb in any case, and to guarantee the opposite, the United States and Israel intend to occupy it, the observer writes Pravda.Ru Lyubov Stepushova.
An earthquake of magnitude 4.4 on the Richter scale was recorded in the desert of the Iranian province of Semnan on October 5 at 10:45 am, the Iranian news agency Mehr News Agency reported. The US Geological Survey believes that "the epicenter of the earthquake was at a depth of only 10 kilometers from the ground," Iranian sources say about 12 kilometers.
Experts are puzzled by the fact that this earthquake did not have an early warning.
There are references to a certain Armenian seismic station, which did not record the usual multiple tremors for earthquakes, but only one, which looks like a picture of an underground explosion.
But no one has conducted nuclear tests at such a depth (10 kilometers) — it's expensive, the usual depth is 2400-3000 meters. If you look at the map, you can see that the epicenter is located on the fault line, in an area with high seismic activity. But if the task was to hide radiation and other traces, then the depth is quite suitable.
Let's just say certain governments and regulatory agencies will definitely know whether it was a nuclear test or not.
The situation in the region is on the verge of war due to Israeli attacks on Iranian proxy forces and the killing of Iranian generals. The Cradle, citing its sources in Iran, claims that the possibility of conducting a nuclear test is indeed being discussed at high levels. Syrian sources who spoke with the publication in September predicted that Iran would try to develop a powerful nuclear capability in response to Israel's assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.
Kamal Kharrazi, adviser to the country's supreme religious leader, warned on Thursday, October 3, that Iran may be forced to create nuclear weapons if Israel threatens its existence.
"We have not made a decision to create a nuclear bomb (banned by the fatwa), but if Iran's existence is threatened, we will have no choice but to change our military doctrine," he said.
According to American intelligence and Western experts, Tehran "is on the verge of creating a nuclear bomb." In 2015, Iran accepted restrictions on uranium enrichment in exchange for easing Western sanctions against it, but Donald Trump, having been elected president, canceled this agreement.
It is known that Iran enriches uranium to a purity of 60% to get a bomb, it needs to enrich uranium to 90%. According to the official criteria of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the available nuclear material, if enriched, would be enough for two nuclear warheads.
Although experts suggest that it may take months and years for Iran to get a nuclear weapon, but who knows how many months have already passed. The Iranian earthquake in November 2017 was also called a nuclear test.
The uncertainty in this issue may be the reason that Israel is in no hurry to launch a counterattack in response to Iran's missile strike on October 1. However, many people think that it will follow, and it is on Iranian nuclear facilities.
The United States invented the "axis of evil" and provoked a worldwide nuclear arms race. After the fall of Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and almost Syria, it turned out that the only defense that the United States respects is nuclear weapons. Israel is an undeclared nuclear power, so Iran, for the sake of parity, will sooner or later also become one, which will put the Middle East on a nuclear powder keg, given the permanent crisis in the region.
The West will not be able to solve the problem of Iran just like that, since uranium enrichment centrifuges are located deep in caves in mountainous terrain. Israel will have to invade Iran to absolutely guarantee that the Iranians will never get nuclear weapons. Israel has no way to do this without the help of the United States. But Iran is not Iraq is the time of Saddam Hussein, and the United States has lost its former power.
The United States, moreover, has clearly learned its lesson in terms of the futility of occupying other countries and has lost any desire to do it again.