In a shocking turn of events that no one could have anticipated, ISIS “has it.”:http://isis-online.org/uploads/isis-reports/documents/IAEA_Iran_8Nov2011.pdf

This thing has been talked to death already, it seems, but I do wish to highlight this paragraph:

bq. The information indicates that prior to the end of 2003 the above activities took place under a structured programme. There are also indications that some activities relevant to the development of a
nuclear explosive device continued after 2003, and that some may still be ongoing.

I actually think the description of the suspected nuclear weapons program is one of the most interesting aspects of the report.

Spencer Ackerman was gracious enough to quote me in this “good piece”:http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/11/loose-geek/ about the potential spread of nuclear expertise:

bq. But the fact that no one precisely knows how large the problem is speaks to its danger. [Sharon] Squassoni, like every expert contacted for the story, laments the fact that it’s an under-researched topic. If the U.S. government even knows, it’s not telling. “It’s the kind of thing that when you start asking, you hit the classification wall pretty quickly,” says Paul Kerr, a proliferation expert at the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service, who estimates that the number is in the tens of thousands of scientists.

I do feel the need to clarify one thing…although I told Spencer that the tens of thousands estimate sounded credible to me, it’s not MY estimate; I’ve never researched that particular issue. That’s not to say the number’s wrong – as I said, it sounds credible to me.

Spencer is a great blogger/journalist and I’m certainly not accusing him of making stuff up or misquoting me; there was just a misunderstanding.

I’m planning a series of posts about Libya, on top of “this one”:http://www.totalwonkerr.net/2114/libya-and-cw I did a little while back.

This first short offering is about “Security Council Resolution 2017,”:http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2011/sc10429.doc.htm adopted last week. Its focus is obviously on MANPADS, but there are some provisions related to WMD:

bq.. 1. Calls upon the Libyan authorities to take all necessary steps to prevent the *proliferation of all arms and related materiel of all types,* in particular man-portable surface-to-air missiles, to ensure their proper custody, *as well as to meet Libya’s arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation obligations under international law, through the full implementation of their plans in this regard;*

“2. Further calls upon the Libyan authorities to continue their *close coordination with the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, with the aim of destroying their stockpiles of chemical weapons, in accordance with their international obligations;*

Apologies for the lack of blogging. I’ve been busy because the battle between the mongoose and cobra I recently purchased has been more prolonged than anticipated.

Anyway, Jeffrey recently blogged about two items that Iran’s AEOI had at the September IAEA General Conference: “a laser pointer”:http://lewis.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/4570/iranian-giveaway-at-the-gc shaped like an IR-1 and an “IR-1 on display.”:http://lewis.armscontrolwonk.com/archive/4576/more-on-iran-at-the-gc

Unfortunately, I don’t have any visual aids, but I can add a couple of tidbits: first, the laser pointer has lights in three different colors.

Second, and more interesting, is a flash drive that the AEOI was distributing with information about Iran’s nuclear program. Of course, more than one person has pointed out to me the need for caution when attaching the drive to one’s laptop, however tantalizing the drive’s contents.