Top fear: Lies low – and makes a secret bomb

Iran

Horror scenario: Lies low – and makes a secret bomb

Johan Edgar

Published 2025-06-25 23.56

Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons is in ruins.

Or?

– I'm worried that they will do just like North Korea, says top Democrat Jim Himes.

The top Democrat, who sits on the Intelligence Committee, is one of only eight in Congress who is allowed to see classified information.

Now he fears that the regime in Tehran will look to Kim and take after Pyongyang – something that would be a nightmare for both Israel and the United States.

Battle over the bombs

It is still unclear how effectively the Israeli and American bombings of Iran's nuclear facilities hit the country.

A leaked preliminary report from the Pentagon estimates that Iran's ability to develop nuclear weapons has only been delayed by a few months.

 

Donald Trump during the NATO summit in The Hague. Photo: Markus Schreiber / AP

Both Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio denied this on Wednesday.

- They have been wiped out, Trump told reporters from the NATO summit in The Hague and wrote repeatedly on Truth Social.

"It was very, very successful - it's called EXECUTION. This incredible show of American strength has paved the way for peace," he writes, among other things.

 

One of the American bombers returns after the mission in Iran. Photo: David Smith/AP

“Off the Map”

Rubio says the Isfahan facility, which is needed to convert enriched uranium into a working nuclear weapon, is completely destroyed.

“We can’t even find where it is, where it used to be on the map. Everything is black. It’s gone. Destroyed,” he says, according to The New York Times.

 

Satellite images show entrances to the underground facility in Isfahan after the US bombing. Photo: Maxar Technologies Via AP

Trump says the White House will resume talks with Tehran next week.

“We may sign an agreement, I don’t know,” Trump says at a press conference during the NATO summit in the Netherlands.

Iran has not confirmed that it will participate in new talks. The regime also says it will not abandon its nuclear energy program.

 

Jim Himes fears Iran will follow North Korea and secretly develop a nuclear bomb. Photo: J Scott Applewhite/AP

Fearing Iranian fine

In an interview with MSNBC, top Democrat Jim Himes says that Iran probably thinks that diplomacy does not work for them. Among other things, he addresses the fact that Israel began its bombing campaign at the same time as talks were underway, writes Newsweek.

He believes that Iran may see it as its only option to do like North Korea and secretly develop a nuclear bomb. The regime may take inspiration from other countries that have given up their nuclear weapons, such as Ukraine and Libya.

 

Iran to test-fire Khorramshahr-4 ballistic missile in May 2023. Photo: AP

Now Himes worries that Iran will lie low, stay out of international conflicts – and work undisturbed with its deadly secret.

– I’m not worried that there will be an attack on our naval assets in Bahrain or on our airfield in Qatar. I’m worried that the Iranians will do just like North Korea, Himes tells MSNBC.

– The alternative is to look at North Korea, which developed a bomb in secret.