North Korea and Iran are the new entrants in a rapidly growing list of world powers with nuclear arsenals. The exact figure of Nuclear Weapons owned by major world powers is unknown. It is however estimated that the US and Russia have over fourteen thousands nuclear weapons combined. France, China, Britain, Pakistan, India and Israel are also in the league of emerging countries with nuclear weapons.
Trump wants a nuke race
The call by US President Donald Trump for the nuclear weapons arms race to be enhanced is likely to revive the nuclear arms race between the US and Russia.
A host of other nations, including North Korea and Iran, have recently successfully launched short range missiles contrary to the international agreement on proliferation of nuclear weapons.
The Iranian nuclear deal became a fierce political topic during the US presidential campaigns. President Trump has threatened to tear apart the joint comprehensive plan of action reached during the Obama administration on curbing the Iranian nuke program. Trump has repeatedly said the deal only empowers Iran to develop more nukes.
Trump criticizes US-Russia nuke agreement
Speaking to Reuters on Thursday, US President Donald J. Trump affirmed that America had fallen behind on nuclear weapons capacity. He further condemned the deal reached with Russia to scale down on nukes warheads indicating the deal was one sided and largely benefited Russia.
The call by President Trump to enhance US nukes program has widely been criticized as one that could trigger the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Experts are worried of the implication on the outcome should President Trump’s administration dare to push on with revamping the US nuclear weapons.
Twenty years since the end of the Cold war that witnessed intensified rivalry in nukes development between the US and Russia, the continued existence of thousands of these weapons from both sides continue to pose a serious global threat.
North Korea posing danger to the world
North Korea has frequently launched short range missiles with the capability to hit key targets. It has been alleged that North Korea is secretly seeking to develop long range missiles that could reach distance cities. Iran on the other hand has warned that it has missiles that could be used against those perceived to be a threat to Tehran.
While North Korea has bragged about its ability to launch nukes, the report is yet to be confirmed. The secretive state has threatened to develop both nuclear and hydrogen weapons despite sanctions. The U.S intelligence has however downplayed the ability of North Korea to develop nukes but indicated it could soon have enough plutonium to develop dangerous long range nuclear weapons.
The North Korean government has in the recent past launched a series of a long-range missiles. The US is the only country to have ever used nuclear weapons on Nagasaki and Hiroshima in retaliation to the Japanese imperial army attack on Pearl Harbor. During his state visit to Japan President Barrack Obama became the first US President to visit Hiroshima since it was hit in 1945.