Spy rock explodes near secret Iranian nuclear compound

[Locutus]

Iranian troops patrolling the perimeter of a secret uranium enrichment site have reportedly found a monitoring device disguised as a rock. The spy gadget exploded when disturbed, probably on a self-destruct trigger.

*The incident happened last month, although no link to espionage operations was known before The Sunday Times newspaper broke the news. At the time Iranian Revolutionary Guards were checking terminals connecting communication links at Fordo, an underground site near Qom in northern Iran, the British newspaper reported Sunday citing intelligence sources.

Iranian experts who examined the scene after the explosion believe that the spy device was capable in intercepting data from computers at the plant.


more


Spy rock explodes near secret Iranian nuclear compound - report — RT

 

[earth_as_one]

"Secret Iranian facility"

Secret to who?

Iran disclosed the location of this facility to the IAEA in 2009 as per the mandatory parts of the NPT..
JURIST - Forum: The Qom Enrichment Facility: Was Iran Legally Bound to Disclose?

When Iran declared the existence of this facility, it was still an empty cave. As per the terms of the mandatory parts of the NPT that Iran signed, Iran doesn't have to reveal the existence of empty caves.

Iran never signed a "voluntary" confidence building NPT protocol that calls for nuclear sites to be declared before construction begins. Iran claims they would have signed that voluntary protocol too, except they believe that hostile nations would take advantage of advanced disclosure to clandestinely install devices that would interfere the safe and secure operation of their nuclear facilities. The discovery of this device proves Iran's beliefs are well founded.

Iran disclosed this site's existence to the IAEA 180 days before installing any nuclear equipment as required by the NPT. Iran installed all nuclear related equipment in this site under IAEA supervision as per the NPT. The IAEA has installed surveillance equipment in this site as well as every other Iranian nuclear site as per a voluntary NPT protocol that Iran signed. The IAEA tracks every gram of nuclear material in Iran from the time its extracted from Iran's uranium mines through its life cycle, from processing into fuel to storage of spent fuel as per a voluntary NPT protocol that Iran signed.

 

[taxslave]

"Secret Iranian facility"

Secret to who?

Iran disclosed the location of this facility to the IAEA in 2009 as per the mandatory parts of the NPT..
JURIST - Forum: The Qom Enrichment Facility: Was Iran Legally Bound to Disclose?

When Iran declared the existence of this facility, it was still an empty cave. As per the terms of the mandatory parts of the NPT that Iran signed, Iran doesn't have to reveal the existence of empty caves.

Iran never signed a "voluntary" confidence building NPT protocol that calls for nuclear sites to be declared before construction begins. Iran claims they would have signed that voluntary protocol too, except they believe that hostile nations would take advantage of advanced disclosure to clandestinely install devices that would interfere the safe and secure operation of their nuclear facilities. The discovery of this device proves Iran's beliefs are well founded.

Iran disclosed this site's existence to the IAEA 180 days before installing any nuclear equipment as required by the NPT. Iran installed all nuclear related equipment in this site under IAEA supervision as per the NPT. The IAEA has installed surveillance equipment in this site as well as every other Iranian nuclear site as per a voluntary NPT protocol that Iran signed. The IAEA tracks every gram of nuclear material in Iran from the time its extracted from Iran's uranium mines through its life cycle, from processing into fuel to storage of spent fuel as per a voluntary NPT protocol that Iran signed.

Or at least they track all the material that they are permitte to know about.

 

[earth_as_one]

If Iran is developing nuclear weapons, then their scientists must be incompetent nitwits to have not tested one by now. Nukes are 1940's technology:

1945 Chevy

1945 Uranium Bomb

The Manhattan project only took three years from the time the US mastered enrichment until they built their first nuke. Iran has enriched industrial quantities of uranium since 2005 and the basic principles of nuclear weapons are well known. If Iran was serious about building nuclear weapons, they should have had a gadget ready for testing by 2010.

The only conclusion is that Iran isn't developing nuclear weapons, is following the NPT to the letter and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is a war mongering liar.

 

[BruSan]

If Iran is developing nuclear weapons, then their scientists must be incompetent nitwits to have not tested one by now. Nukes are 1940's technology:


The Manhattan project only took three years from the time the US mastered enrichment until they built their first nuke. Iran has enriched industrial quantities of uranium since 2005 and the basic principles of nuclear weapons are well known. If Iran was serious about building nuclear weapons, they should have had a gadget ready for testing by 2010.

The only conclusion is that Iran isn't developing nuclear weapons, is following the NPT to the letter and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu is a war mongering liar.

Wouldn't it be nice if we could all live in that utopian existance you've crafted for yourself there behind that potted fern?.

Another conclusion is; they've HAD warheads since 2010 and are only working now on smaller, cleaner bombs with better delivery.

But you go right ahead with your endorsing of a despotic regime with the openly stated intent to wipe another country off the map altogether.

 

[earth_as_one]

I don't endorse Iran. I just don't fall for obvious lies and deceptions. I think Iran is backwards and intolerant. But that doesn't mean I believe every negative thing said about them by their enemies or representatives of oil companies.

For example, describing this facility as a secret is an obvious whopper. If its a secret then how did the news know about it? The reason why is that this facility was revealed 3 years ago and became a known facility. Six months later, Iran started installing centrifuges. Iran's "secret" facilities even offer guided tours:
PressTV - Mongolian president visits Natanz uranium enrichment plant

I have read the IAEA reports about Iran and they have nothing incriminating. Not only don't they have a smoking gun, they don't even have smoke, a gun or bullets. Yet you believe they are guilty???

Iran experimented with enrichment, before they signed the NPT. But they declared their activities when they signed the NPT. Iran didn't reveal the existence of some of their facilities until 180 days before they were ready to start installing equipment, because they don't have to. An empty cave isn't a nuclear facility until equipment is installed. The IAEA inspected these sites, confirmed they were empty, monitored the installation process, set up cameras and perform regular inspections. A stolen laptop allegedly from an Iranian scientist had a nuclear weapon simulator program. A nuclear weapon simulation program requires the processing power of a supercomputer to be practical. A laptop might be able to complete the necessary calculations after a few decades of processing and it would have to be based on measurements taken from weapons grade uranium, which Iran doesn't possess.

As far as anyone knows Iran has not exceeded the 20% HEU limit required to build nuclear weapons. They need 20% HEU for their medical isotope reactor, because they can't import medical isotopes. Nuclear weapon components must be made from greater than 20% HEU.

The problem with your scenario that Iran already has nuclear weapons is that in order for the design to be useful, it has to be tested. Testing a nuke without anyone noticing is impossible. The smallest nuke is the equivalent of a 4.5 magnitude earthquake. Every seismic monitoring facility in the world would record that event. Likely Turkey, Russia, India and China have seismic stations located close enough to Iran to notice any Iranian nuclear test.

FYI: A nuke's seismic signature is completely different than an earthquake. Earthquakes occur deep underground, build up in intensity and dissipate, usually with aftershocks. Nuclear weapons are tested near the surface, release their energy at once and no aftershocks. They are as different from each other as an elephant is from a blue whale.

Yet you believe all this BS about Iran's nuclear weapons program, despite a lack of any supporting evidence. Who is living in a fantasy world again????

 

[Goober]

I don't endorse Iran. I just don't fall for obvious lies and deceptions. I think Iran is backwards and intolerant. But that doesn't mean I believe every negative thing said about them by their enemies or representatives of oil companies.

For example, describing this facility as a secret is an obvious whopper. If its a secret then how did the news know about it? The reason why is that this facility was revealed 3 years ago and became a known facility. Six months later, Iran started installing centrifuges. Iran's "secret" facilities even offer guided tours:
PressTV - Mongolian president visits Natanz uranium enrichment plant

I have read the IAEA reports about Iran and they have nothing incriminating. Not only don't they have a smoking gun, they don't even have smoke, a gun or bullets. Yet you believe they are guilty???

Iran experimented with enrichment, before they signed the NPT. But they declared their activities when they signed the NPT. Iran didn't reveal the existence of some of their facilities until 180 days before they were ready to start installing equipment, because they don't have to. An empty cave isn't a nuclear facility until equipment is installed. The IAEA inspected these sites, confirmed they were empty, monitored the installation process, set up cameras and perform regular inspections. A stolen laptop allegedly from an Iranian scientist had a nuclear weapon simulator program. A nuclear weapon simulation program requires the processing power of a supercomputer to be practical. A laptop might be able to complete the necessary calculations after a few decades of processing and it would have to be based on measurements taken from weapons grade uranium, which Iran doesn't possess.

As far as anyone knows Iran has not exceeded the 20% HEU limit required to build nuclear weapons. They need 20% HEU for their medical isotope reactor, because they can't import medical isotopes. Nuclear weapon components must be made from greater than 20% HEU.

The problem with your scenario that Iran already has nuclear weapons is that in order for the design to be useful, it has to be tested. Testing a nuke without anyone noticing is impossible. The smallest nuke is the equivalent of a 4.5 magnitude earthquake. Every seismic monitoring facility in the world would record that event. Likely Turkey, Russia, India and China have seismic stations located close enough to Iran to notice any Iranian nuclear test.

FYI: A nuke's seismic signature is completely different than an earthquake. Earthquakes occur deep underground, build up in intensity and dissipate, usually with aftershocks. Nuclear weapons are tested near the surface, release their energy at once and no aftershocks. They are as different from each other as an elephant is from a blue whale.

Yet you believe all this BS about Iran's nuclear weapons program, despite a lack of any supporting evidence. Who is living in a fantasy world again????

You have been proven wrong so often on this topic.

 

[earth_as_one]

No one has yet proved that Iran has violated any part of the NPT that they signed, unlike the US, Russia, France, China and the UK which have developed and tested new nuclear weapon designs since since signing the NPT, rather than reduce and eliminate their nuclear arsenals as required by the mandatory parts of the NPT. Meanwhile India, Israel, North Korea and Pakistan are not NPT signatories, clandestinely developed nuclear weapons and only North Korea faces sanctions.

As long as Iran respects the 20% HEU limit they are not a nuclear threat. If Israel, the US or anyone else starts a war with Iran that threatens regime change like the US did to Iraq, Iran may kick out the inspectors and develop nukes. As it is now, Iran's respect for the NPT and assertion of their NPT rights has led to sanctions and threats.... in violation of the NPT.

Iran is an example of how the NPT should work if Iran's adversaries would respect their NPT right to peaceful nuclear technology. Iran will master peaceful nuclear technology while abstaining from nuclear weapons, just like Canada. I don't believe Iran will pursue nuclear weapons, unless pushed into it by an existential threat. The more Israel threatens Iran, the more the US and other countries punish Iran for their NPT compliant nuclear program, the more likely Iran is change its mind and pursue nuclear weapons.

The best approach is to watch Iran closely and do nothing unless they violate the 20% HEU limit. If they deliberately exceed the 20% HEU... that's a completely different situation, which would require a severe response.

 

[Retired_Can_Soldier]

Spy Rock. How ingenious.