Iran has promised a punch that will stun world powers this week to mark the 31st anniversary of the Islamic revolution.

Could that punch be a nuclear test to announce Iran’s joining the world nuclear club?  Over the past year, a wealth of information has come to light on Iran’s weapons program that taken as a whole point to a much more advanced state of development than is publicly acknowledge.  It is now know that Iran as purchased an advanced weapon design similar to the one used by Pakistan for its first nuclear device.  It is also known that the scale of the Iranian clandestine enrichment project (at underground facilities such as Qom) is much larger than thought a year ago.

It is possible that Iran already have enough HEU to make a couple of test devices, and that they have been working on the mechanics of the implosion device (a series of layered explosive charges that compress the uranium core) for at least 5 years, which is more than enough time to get it right if they have someone selling them gray market parts for some of the technical parts (such as detonation timing and high-strength steel).

Is the world ready for a nuclear Iran? Is Israel going to roll over and play dead? Has the time come 65 years later to break the nuclear first use taboo?