One of the discussions that Markus Schiller and I have about North Korea’s ballistic missile program centers on the SS-N-6 aka BM-25 aka Musudan ballistic missile. I was skeptical of the missile at first — although we’ve subsequently seen a larger version on parade, a second stage on the Unha that looks like an SS-N-6, …
Say “Landscape Architect” in Farsi
by | 2012-05-30 | 22 Comments
Fredrik Dahl of Reuters reports that the IAEA has satellite images, including one dated May 25, that show “two side buildings had been dismantled and other possible clean-up work” described as “ground-scraping activities” at Parchin. (The sourcing is “diplomats who attended a closed-door briefing by U.N. nuclear agency officials.”) We don’t have the images (yet) …
US/ROK SOF in the DPRK?
by | 2012-05-29 | 23 Comments
Last week, BG Neil H. Tolley, Commander of Special Operations Command, Korea, participated on a panel at the 2012 SOFIC (Special Operations Forces Industry Conference) with other theater special operations commanders. He was talking about the challenges in dealing with underground facilities in North Korea when he said something like this: “The entire tunnel infrastructure …
Iranian HEU Traces: Don’t Panic
by | 2012-05-29 | 32 Comments
By now everyone has seen the latest IAEA Iran report, GOV/2012/23. Among other bits that have drawn attention is paragraph 28, concerning swipe samples taken at the subterranean enrichment facility outside of Qom in mid-February. These samples “showed the presence of particles with enrichment levels of up to 27% U-235,” more than the level that’s …
