‘Doing a North Korea’? Why the Middle East could be entering a new nuclear age

A Saudi-US nuclear pact and further attacks on Iran could prompt Tehran to withdraw from the non-proliferation treaty, analysts warn

The warnings by US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu followed the September 9 publication of a Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) study claiming that a recent surge in construction activity at the so-called Pickaxe Mountain site “likely” meant it was being developed into an underground fortress for Iran’s nuclear programme.

The CSIS report said the facility could either be a centrifuge assembly facility, an enrichment plant, or a safe haven for other “nuclear weapons-relevant” work such as uranium metal conversion.