North Korea, on the occasion of a visit to the site of dictator Kim Jong-un, released pictures of one of its facilities dedicated to uranium enrichment for military purposes. It is unclear whether these are the already well-known nuclear complexes of Kangson, near Pyongyang, and Yongbyon, north of the North Korean capital, or whether we are looking at a third and new facility. Kim Jong-un, according to the state-run KCNA news agency, visited the control room of the enrichment base to learn about the general operation of the production lines and said he felt strong seeing the dynamism of the plant.
Kim also urged a further increase in the number of centrifuges to ‘exponentially’ increase the manufacture of nuclear weapons. It may just be yet another act of propaganda by a regime that always needs to show its muscles to the world and at least appear strong and threatening to survive, but it is wise never to underestimate North Korea of the son of the ‘dear leader’ Kim Jong-il and grandson of the ‘eternal president’ Kim Il-sung, (Pyongyang’s is a kind of communist monarchy that passes from father to son).
Kim Jong-un, much more so than his father and grandfather, has wielded the nuclear threat on several occasions and it is credible that the system overseen by the chubby tyrant functions flawlessly, as the KCNA states, because the North Korean dictatorship can overlook the fact that its citizens get by on a bowl of rice a day, but it knows how to be militarily efficient. Because they do not have to be accountable to oppositions and a free public, they do not have to think too much about the social and economic situation, and can occupy all their time in the production, use and buying of weapons.
The fundamentalist Iran of the ayatollahs is not much different from the Korea of the Kims. Tehran’s Shiite fundamentalists ignore not only the rights and freedoms they conculcate, but also the economic stability of Iranians, and have always had only one goal: to turn Iran into a regional power driven by anti-Western, especially anti-American and anti-Israeli hatred (for Tehran, the State of Israel is the Zionist entity that must disappear from the map), and also by the design to bend other Muslims, the Sunnis and especially their Persian Gulf monarchies. The Iranian support, military and financial, given to the terrorism of Hamas, Hezbollah and any other armed group capable of inflicting damage on Israel and Western interests has never been a secret. Where and when they can, the ayatollahs insert themselves indirectly into the world’s various conflicts and to support anything that goes against the West, the democracies and the Jewish state. American intelligence reports that Iran has been delivering Shahed drones to Russia since 2022, i.e. since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, for use in battle, but now there is also talk of a supply of ballistic missiles.
The US has warned its European allies about the transfer of short-range ballistic missiles to Russia for use in the Ukrainian conflict. The Iranian contribution to the escalation of the war and the increase of dangers beyond the Middle East to Europe is evident. For years, the US has maintained the list of rogue states, periodically amended with additions or deletions. Rogue states are thus labelled as proponents of destabilising policies and military projects, not only for America, but for the whole world. Aid and complicity in illegitimate aggression, such as the Russian aggression in Ukraine, support for international terrorism, and the arms race, especially the nuclear arms race, make a state a rogue state, and both Iran and North Korea have always appeared on this list drawn up in Washington. The US president who most emphasised the need to be vigilant about the moves of rogue states was undoubtedly George W. Bush, who led the US from 2001 to 2009.
As is well known, Bush junior found himself leading the United States through one of the most difficult periods in stars and stripes and world history. He had to deal with the attack on the Twin Towers in New York on11 September 2001, (only a few days ago was the anniversary of this dramatic event), and confront the international Islamic terrorism of Al-Qaeda. He started the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, his fight against terror had many supporters, but also, perhaps in equal measure, many critics, and the Republican president also received disapproval because of his denunciations of rogue states. Bush’s most exaggerated detractors described him as an irresponsible warmonger in quarrel with the planet and the usual Yankee imperialist, but the 43rd Commander-in-Chief had a point given the extent of the plots that continue to involve capitals like Tehran and Pyongyang. In addition to Russia and China’s double and triple plays, it is worth monitoring those smaller countries that are only focused on the arms race and for this reason, no less dangerous than the big autocracies.