Since 1979, a cabal of nations has aided and abetted Iran in its efforts to develop a robust nuclear program under the guise of generating a nuclear energy system. This cabal is mainly comprised of Russia, China, and North Korea. Since sanctions began being placed on Iran in 1979, with more added since, Iran still had enough free reign to develop its capabilities despite the sanctions regime because of this cabal. All the moving parts are in place, the material is there, and this means they are already nuclear – “break out” is imminent now.
During this period, North Korea had evaded sanctions, and like Iran, lied, cheated, and broke virtually every agreement it ever signed with the United Nations. Now North Korea is a nuclear weapons power, and we believe Iran has already done the same. Each had created hidden facilities but only North Korea has actually tested weapons fully. Because Iran has to date only detonated trigger devices that does not mean the Mullahs do not have weapons capability now because they certainly have enough material.
Both Iran and North Korea are also fast approaching inter-continental missile capability, and Iranian government observers, research scientists, and senior military officials have been on-site in North Korea for the testing of its systems. In essence, Iran has had the benefit of having North Korea essentially do their development and testing for them.