The Office of the Director of National Intelligence today released a report that says North Korea could resume nuclear testing this year, forcing President Biden’s administration to enter into a dialogue; the report also mentions Iran’s nuclear program, predicting that Tehran will increase the purity of enriched uranium to 60 percent.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released a report on the global threat to the United States, stating, “North Korean leader Kim Jong Un may take numerous provocative and destabilizing actions to reshape the regional security environment and provoke relations between the United States and its allies. Up to and including resuming testing of nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
We assess that Kim Jong Un sees nuclear weapons as the ultimate deterrent against foreign intervention and believes that over time he will be accepted and respected by the international community as a nuclear power,” the report states.
North Korea has not tested a long-range missile in more than three years and still retains the possibility of talks with the United States to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula.
However, the report by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence states that “Kim Jong Un may consider whether to resume testing long-range missiles or conduct nuclear test explosions this year to try to force the United States to negotiate with him on North Korea’s terms.
The 27-page report also mentions Iran’s nuclear program and anticipates that Tehran authorities will begin to increase the purity of enriched uranium to 60 percent, a further step toward the 90 percent purity threshold needed to build nuclear weapons.
The report said, “We continue to judge that Iran is not currently undertaking critical nuclear weapons development activities, i.e., actions that we judge necessary to develop a nuclear device.
The report mentioned, “If sanctions relief cannot be obtained, Iran may consider other options, including increasing the purity of enriched uranium to 60 percent and designing and building a new 40-megawatt heavy water reactor.
Two days ago, Iran’s key nuclear facility in Natanz exploded, with Tehran authorities blaming arch-rival Israel.
The 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and world powers requires Iran to revise restrictions on the design of the Arak heavy-water reactor and not to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
Recent Comments