The Associated Press has obtained and published a computer-generated graph allegedly produced by Iranian nuclear scientists indicating that Iran has conducted computer simulations designed to produce a nuclear weapon. The bell-shaped curve, which charts the explosion of a nuclear weapon detonating with three time the force of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, had previously been referenced in IAEA reports as evidence that Iran’s nuclear program may contain a clandestine weaponization component. The graph, which was leaked to the Associated Press by “a country critical of Iran’s atomic program”, had not been published publicly and now promises to complicate claims that Iran’s nuclear weapons program is peaceful. Iran is also bolstering its so-called anti-access/area-denial assets, which are widely seen as aimed at limiting the options available to the U.S. and its allies in addressing Iran’s nuclear program. Iranian press outlets reported on a new missile-launching warship unveiled today by Iran’s navy, which Iranian officials described as part of an effort to “not allow U.S. aircraft carriers to come near [Iran’s] borders.”

[Photo: Nanking2012 / Wiki Commons]