According to a document obtained by the AP, Iranian scientists ran tests measuring how powerful Iranian-built nuclear bombs would be. A leaked graph shows the bomb would be three times more powerful than the bomb used on Hiroshima in WWII.
What does this mean for America and what should you know about the diagram?
1. The Study Was Done By Iranian Scientists (Consider the Source)
The document obtained by the AP was produced by Iranian scientists. Like most dictatorships, Iran is known for spreading propaganda, so it is possible that some of the numbers might be fudged a bit. Is a nuke in Iran’s hands a terrible thing? Yes. Will the nuke be as powerful as they claim? Probably not.
2. The Country that Leaked it Remains Anonymous (Again, Consider the Source)
The document was leaked to the AP by an unnamed country that is critical of Iran’s nuclear program and concerned with how it will affect the world. The country leaked the document under the condition that its leakers’ identities and the country itself would not be publicly released.
3. The Diagram is Part of a Larger Document
The leaked graph is just one page in a longer report on nuclear arms in Iran.
4. The Diagram Depicts the Force of a Nuclear Explosion
According to experts, the diagram shows a “bell curve with variables of time in micro-seconds, and power and energy in kilotons.” The curve gets to 50 kilotons at 2 microseconds. The bomb dropped on Hiroshima was 15 kilotons. Translation: big. effing. explosion.
5. That Writing on the Note is in Farsi
The Farsi words translate to: “Changes in output and in energy released as a function of time through power pulse.”
6. The Graph May Describe a Goal, not a Capability
David Albright, an official at the Institute for Science and international Security, seems to think the diagram is more of a blueprint than a reading of Iran’s current nuclear capabilities. He cites the fact that when Korea was first starting its program, the nuclear yield was only a few kilotons, nothing close to what Iran is claiming to be able to do.
7. Iran Just Prepared Itself Against Nuclear Accidents
According to an article by RFERL, Iran just got around to protecting itself from a nuclear accident despite having the program in place for years. I guess this explains the Iran Nuclear Weaponry division’s slogan “Better Late than Never.”
8. Iran Still Does Not Acknowledge Its Nuclear Program
Iran’s IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) delegates still have no comment on the program or claim to have zero knowledge that it exists, depending on which delegate you ask.
9. Iran Refuses to Stop Uranium Enrichment
Iran maintains that its uranium enrichment is purely for civilian use and not for weapons. Sounds legit to me! JK, we should all be very afraid.
10. Ladies Might Be Looking Forward to an Iranian Invasion
This “freedom fighter” basically called a jihad on the hearts of tweens across America:
