<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/jd-vance" rel="" target="" title="US Vice President JD Vance"><span>US Vice President JD Vance</span></a><span> has warned of the possibility of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/iran" rel="" target="" title="Iran"><span>Iran</span></a><span> carrying out attacks using suicide bombers with nuclear weapons on their vests.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The vice president was speaking at a cabinet meeting in the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/white-house" rel="" target="" title="White House"><span>White House</span></a><span> about the risks Iran posed to the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/usa" rel="" target="" title="United States"><span>United States</span></a><span>.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"People who walk into a crowded supermarket and have a vest on, and they blow up the vest and a couple of people get killed," Vance said.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-florida-election-results-mar-a-lago-emily-gregory-us-politics-news/70f84489-55ba-4d49-a33f-0c8937c953b9"><strong><span>Trump on shaky ground after Democrats win Mar-a-Lago seat</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What happens when what's on the vest is not something that can kill a couple of people but can kill many, many, tens of thousands of people?"</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The smallest </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/what-north-korea-nuclear-bombs-would-do-to-australian-cities/99d09aeb-12be-4c2b-a15f-324b6667bc47" rel="" target="" title="nuclear bomb"><span>nuclear bomb</span></a><span> the United States acknowledged they had built was a 23kg warhead.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That bomb had the equivalent impact of ten tonnes of TNT.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/world/jd-vance-iran-suicide-vests-nuclear-dirty-bomb-atomic-weapon-iran-latest-news-updates/14a8fc31-fa0d-46fb-8908-40b61a073e2f" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Smaller bombs have been theorised but never officially acknowledged to have been built.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Vance's comments come as Iranian hardliners push to exit its membership of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Membership in the NPT has not only yielded no benefits for Iran in gaining access to peaceful nuclear energy, but it has also, beyond the NPT, merely aided the espionage activities of Israel and the United States against Iran," an editorial from Tasnim News Agency read.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Iran must withdraw from this treaty as soon as possible."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/donald-trump-suspicious-futures-trades-treason-paul-krugman-corruption-chris-murphy/9bd90b2b-b13e-4cea-a0d3-250bc43ad3d5"><strong><span>$800m in trades before Trump announcement 'is treason'</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Prominent commentator Nasser Torabi went further, by insisting Iran acquire a nuclear weapon as soon as possible.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/us-israel-strike-on-iran-supreme-leader-ayatollah-ali-khamenei/14563354-250d-40b4-8330-645799b4e899" rel="" target="" title="former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei"><span>former Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei</span></a><span> declared a fatwa saying that nuclear weapons were not permissible in Islam.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>That fatwa could be revoked by new </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/mojtaba-khamenei-son-of-irans-supreme-leader-has-been-named-his-successor-iranian-state-tv-says/2af18a14-e341-4b8d-9e30-e3382d346e47" rel="" target="" title="Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei"><span>Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei</span></a><span> if Iran's government wanted to proceed with a nuclear weapons program.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Meanwhile, </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/north-korea" rel="" target="" title="North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un"><span>North Korean dictator Kim Jong-un</span></a><span> said the US attack on Iran validated his own country developing nuclear weapons.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Today's reality clearly demonstrates the legitimacy of our nation's strategic choice and decision to reject the enemies' sweet talk and permanently secure our nuclear arsenal," Kim said in a speech to the Supreme People's Assembly in Pyongyang earlier this week.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I affirm that our nation is no longer a country under threat​ — we ​now possess the power to pose a threat if necessary."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/what-north-korea-nuclear-bombs-would-do-to-australian-cities/99d09aeb-12be-4c2b-a15f-324b6667bc47" rel="" target="" title="What North Korea's nukes would do to Australia's cities"><strong><span>What North Korea's nukes would do to Australia's cities</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><strong><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories 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