Iran's nuclear facilities are damaged, but the arms race accelerates

Iran's nuclear facilities are damaged, but the arms race accelerates

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, described the US air attacks on Iran as a "spectacular military success" and said that the nuclear institutions of the Islamic Republic had been "completely destroyed".

evaluation of the damage

Western military sources report that it is still too early to comprehensively assess the destruction caused by over a dozen US bunker bombs and a variety of Tomahawk rockets. The main nuclear facilities of Iran had met these. But even if Trump's assessment is correct, the disorder of Iran's nuclear systems could not mean the end of Iranian nuclear threat.

The challenges of Iranian nuclear policy

on the contrary. For years, Hardline has been calling for a nuclear weapon as a deterrent against exactly such overwhelming attacks within the Islamic Republic. Despite Iran's claims that his nuclear program was only dedicated to peaceful purposes, these voices could now have been strengthened, which could play the military hardliners in Tehran.

exit from the non -distribution agreement

worrying is that Iranian officials have already made it public, the contract of nuklearwaffen (npt) To terminate that aims to monitor and prevent the global spread of nuclear weapons. "The NPT cannot protect us, which is why a country like Iran that is interested in peaceful use of nuclear energy should not rely on the NPT," said Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi at a conference in Istanbul.

consequences of the US attacks

Other Iranian legislators have asked that the Islamic Republic formally withdraw from the contract, which could be interpreted as a confirmation of Iranian intent to develop a nuclear weapon. Of course, the intention is different from the actual capacity. However, nuclear capacity will probably be a big topic according to the US attacks. The latest satellite images seem to confirm that the attack with more than a dozen bunker bombs has seriously impaired or even destroyed the Iranian nuclear program.

nuclear materials and secrecy

If there is political will, nuclear enrichment systems can be repaired or rebuilt, while Iran's technical know-how remains, despite the targeted attacks of Israel on several Iranian nuclear scientists. In the meantime, official bodies of the International Atomic Energy Organization (IAEA) state that they are unsure about the whereabouts of the already produced nuclear material Iran, including the large amounts of Uran-235 , which is enriched to 60 % and is very close to weapon-capable concentrations.

Iran's reactions and the future of peace

The Iranian state media reported that the three nuclear locations - Fordow, Natanz and ISFAHAN - were "evacuated" in advance. This could exist that a part or even whole material is stored in a secret place that is unknown to the nuclear inspectors.

All these dangerous nuclear uncertainties don't seem to be what Trump has sought. "Iran, the Bully in the Middle East," he announced after the US attacks, "have to make peace now." But in view of the fact that the entire region is preparing for other Iranian retaliation attacks-against Israel, US military bases or decisive shipping routes such as the Hormuz street-the peace seems to have moved far away.

"Our conversations with Iran were a real window of the opportunity", a European diplomat visited CNN and referred to the short meetings between European and Iranian officials in Geneva on Friday. "But the Americans have now struck this window," added the diplomat.