The general was not impressed by this presentation "You have told us nothing new. Everything can be found in Wikipedia or other websites that are accessible to any 10-year old with a computer and internet access, although I doubt that 10-year olds would bother with the power structure of Iran. I want to know about the Iranian nuclear program after, I repeat after, they signed the nuclear deal. Can you tell us what they are really up to?"
The senior analyst turned pale and managed to say "Well, I was just getting to this in my next slides" and went on to describe the clandestine Iranian program to develop nuclear weapons that was curtailed by the nuclear deal. He said that the program consisted of three major efforts: first, enrichment of uranium to officially manufacture only low-enriched-uranium (LEU). This was also approved in the nuclear deal but the amount was restricted to 300 kg. The Iranians had developed the capability, perhaps even the actual clandestine production, of high-enriched-uranium (HEU) that can be used in nuclear weapons. Second to produce weapon-grade plutonium in a specially designed nuclear reactor or by adaptation of legitimate nuclear power plants; and third to carry out research, and perhaps testing, of nuclear weapon designs. He added "The nuclear deal has put an end to most of these programs, or at least imposed severe limitations on them. But we suspect that the Iranians have continued to pursue the acquisition of nuclear weapons at clandestine sites and in secret laboratories."
Before he could continue General Koliagin interrupted "Have we any proof of this or is it just speculation?"
The senior analyst was dumbfounded "General, I can base my presentation only on the intelligence provided to me, the rest is just innuendo and speculation. So far I have not seen any photos, documents or received reports of actual violations of the nuclear deal. If our esteemed intelligence agencies have anything to the contrary, I'll be glad to get it." He sat back down in his chair and tried to ignore the glaring look that the general gave him.
General Koliagin looked around the table and noted that all the participants kept themselves busy moving their pens around or fiddling with the papers that were placed in front of them. No one looked up or met his eyes and their expressionless faces could have been carved in stone or wood. He sighed inwardly and thought that the senior analyst was right and the fault lay with the lack of updated information on the activities of the Iranians. The FSB had sources within the Iranian scientific community and several collaborators inside the intelligence services and the IRG but none of these had delivered anything that would imply that Iran was in violation of the nuclear deal that it had signed. The general was well aware of the motto of all intelligence services regarding getting proof of illicit operations "absence of evidence is not evidence of absence".
He decided that in order to maintain his position and to ensure that people continued to fear him he had to make an example of the senior analyst and to do so then and there. He pressed the intercom button and summoned his secretary. When she entered the conference room he told her to arrange an escort for the senior analyst that would take him to his apartment. They were to help him pack his things as he would be transferred to his new job in Irkutsk where he would serve as the local intelligence coordinator. The general couldn't help thinking that just a few decades earlier the trip would have been much shorter only as far as the Lubyanka Building on Bolshaya Lubyanka Street in Moscow.
The senior analyst rose to his feet and all color drained from his face as he followed the tall girl out of the room. The general waited another moment and said that he expected some real information about Iran's nuclear program and then adjourned the meeting.
Dr. Fathi was looking forward to the visit by Imam Mourtashef. At long last he had something tangible to show as proof for the success of his efforts — not computer simulations with strange looking shaded lines and dots moving across a computer screen — but a solid sphere made of a metallic substance. A broad smile crossed his face replacing the brooding haunted expression that had become more and more common since some of leading scientists were mysteriously murdered in Europe less than a year previously. He still mourned some of them, especially the tragic end of Dr. Abadi who died alone on a cold street in Vienna and of Dr. Al-Baida who fell to his death from a steep cliff in sunny Taormina. He also wondered what had happened to Dr. Raffsani the brilliant mathematician who mocked the security officers and was whisked away from the laboratory never to be heard from again. Despite these setbacks Fathi and his team were on the verge of achieving the goals that were set for them by the Supreme Leader. Fathi was very proud and now was the moment that he was ready to reap the honors and recognition he felt were well deserved.
The Imam was unaccompanied when he entered the small office that served Dr. Fathi when he felt that he needed to get away from the test benches and "hot cells" that cluttered the laboratory. Fathi rose from his seat and welcomed the Imam bowing his head slightly as a token of respect. The Imam smiled and told Fathi to sit down and give him a brief progress report. Fathi, brimming with excitement, motioned to the Imam to follow him into the lab and led the way to one of the "hot cells" that at a first glance appeared to be empty. As the Imam approached closer he saw a small metallic sphere that was only a few centimeters in diameter. He looked quizzically at the scientist with an unspoken question in his eyes.
Fathi said "This may not look like much to you but, believe it or not, the energy contained in this small sphere can destroy a whole city and kill all its residents in a flash".
The Imam was a bit skeptical, but also in a flippant mood, and smiled while saying "Dr. Fathi, surely you are not implying that someone has to take this sphere and hit every resident on the head with it". Seeing the stunned expression on Fathi's face he quickly added "Only joking. Have you calculated the force of explosion of this sphere?"
Relieved a little, Fathi said "The yield, or force of explosion, of this little sphere that you can pick up with one hand, is equivalent to that of 20 thousand tons of the common chemical explosive TNT. For comparison, the load a Boeing 747–400 can carry is about 200 tons, so if you take a hundred Jumbo jets fully loaded with TNT and crash all of them in a city the extent of immediate damage of the blast wave would be similar. But then you have to add the effects of ionizing and thermal radiation and the long-lasting deadly residual radiation and contamination to appreciate the difference between conventional explosives and nuclear bombs."