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Armenia’s possible dirty bomb threatens entire region

Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict Materials 7 May 2016 14:29 (UTC +04:00)
It has been over two decades since the occupation of almost 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia
Armenia’s possible dirty bomb threatens entire region

Baku, Azerbaijan, May 7

Trend: Umid Niayesh

It has been over two decades since the occupation of almost 20 percent of Azerbaijani territories by Armenia.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the occupied territories, including Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.

Amid the ongoing long-term peace talks between the two countries, recently certain Armenian military officials and politicians have voiced controversial remarks against Baku: using nuclear weapons.

Last month, Armenia's former prime minister, MP Hrant Bagratyan said during a press conference that Armenia has a nuclear weapon. Asked by journalists to clarify his remarks, Bagratyan said Armenia has an opportunity to create a nuclear weapon.

Washington Times: Armenia’s nuclear material can be used to arm dirty bomb

Washington Times: Armenia’s nuclear material can be used to arm dirty bomb

Behrooz Bayat, a former consultant at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told Trend that "notwithstanding the capability of Armenia for making a dirty bomb, I don't think that Armenia would have any incentive or motivation to deploy a dirty bomb in Azerbaijan because of the geographical entanglement between both countries: radio isotopes do not recognize borders."

While responding to a question, about possible transfer of nuclear wastes from Iran to Armenia, Bayat said that it will be impossible.

"Firstly, Iran doesn't have a high production capacity for radio isotopes and secondly, the entire nuclear activities of Iran are under a very tight supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency," Bayat said.

The expert said that reprocessing the nuclear waste of nuclear power plants and gain a variety of radio isotopes also for the purpose of making "dirty bombs," is technically possible.

Armenia has an outdated Chernobyl-type nuclear reactor operating long past its original planned lifetime.

According to an article by Washington Times, the reactor is not only a safety threat, but also potentially a source of radioactive material for a "dirty" bomb.

Amid the recent statements by Armenian officials, recently there has been an increase in cases of citizens of Armenia trying to get nuclear materials.

Last month, the Georgian State Security Service reportedly arrested three Armenian nationals and three citizens of Georgia for attempt of illegal sale of nuclear-grade materials which is an alarming case for the region.

Among all of these challenging statements by Armenian officials, Yerevan still pretends commitment to the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT)!

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