Iran doesn’t have the bomb yet. But they’ve been trying really hard to get it, according to the latest round of data released from Wikileaks. The Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, which reportedly has all 250,000 diplomatic cables, has been releasing them slowly but surely, and the latest one is kinda sorta a big deal. The cables portray it as kind of last-gasp attempt for Iran to jump-start its diplomatic prowess. ”A race exists between the bomb and financial collapse,” one French nuclear expert explained in the cable. Some quick numbers:

• 350 Iranian companies and groups were reportedly involved in the pursuit of nuclear technology
• 30+ countries that have contacts Iran is trying to use to make this bomb thingy happen
• no Iran doesn’t have much in the way of its own uranium, making their job tougher source

» Oh, and remember Stuxnet? That computer worm seemingly designed to damage Iran’s nuclear program was reportedly a American-Israeli joint, according to this here article by The New York Times. It was reportedly so effective at causing a malware ruckus that it set Iran’s nuclear program back by several years. Favorite line: “The computer program also secretly recorded what normal operations at the nuclear plant looked like, then played those readings back to plant operators, like a pre-recorded security tape in a bank heist, so that it would appear that everything was operating normally while the centrifuges were actually tearing themselves apart.” Class.

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