6.3 Earthquake Hits Iran's Bushehr, 4 Dead

A 6.3 earthquake that killed four people struck Bushehr this morning, the site of Iran's Russian built nuclear reactor.

While the Red Cross said that two villages near the nuclear site were heavily damaged, the Russians claim the nuclear site itself is undamaged.

"The earthquake in no way affected the normal situation at the reactor. Personnel continue to work in the normal regime and radiation levels are fully within the norm," Russian state news agency RIA quoted an official at Atomstroyexport as saying.

Of course, the Russians said everything at Chernobyl was just fine too..

I received an e-mail from one of my sources claiming that what happened was not a natural earthquake but a limited underground test of a nuclear trigger mechanism that went badly. No way to confirm that, but I'll throw it out there for what it's worth.

Iran's nuclear facilities have never been vetted for safety by the IAEA, since the entire project was clandestine and illegal according to the non-proliferation treaty Iran signed. Iran also does not belong to the Convention on Nuclear Safety, which was put in place to improve safety standards after the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.

Iran's the only country that doesn't belong, and for obvious reasons - the last thing they want is for their nuclear installations to be inspected, especially their nuclear weapons facilities.