What a shock: Iran has another undeclared nuclear facility that is likely supporting a nuclear weapons program.
Yes, that’s right; press reports indicate that earlier this week Iran finally got around to notifying the U.N.’s International Atomic Energy Agency of a previously undisclosed nuclear-enrichment facility on a military base near the city of Qom.
Here are seven things to note about this disturbing development, based on what we know this morning:
1. An additional enrichment facility allows Iran to make more enriched uranium faster.
2. If this facility is up and running, it means previous estimates on when Iran could achieve a nuclear weapons breakout are now inaccurate.
3. Basically: A nuclear Iran is closer than we thought it was yesterday.
4. This is another violation of Iran’s obligation under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which requires all members to declare all nuclear facilities and allow inspection. (Of course, Iran violated the NPT for some 20 years by not disclosing its nuclear program until it was exposed in 2003.)
5. It’s also very troubling that a supposedly civilian facility is located on a military base. It will be hard for Iran’s leaders to explain this one, but they will try.
6. The Iran problem is getting worse — not better.
7. It’s high-time for the Obama administration to do something concrete about Iran’s nuclear ambitions beyond pinning their hopes on upcoming talks, which will likely result in no changes to the Iranian nuclear program.