Nuclear Iran Looms Large
Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz estimated that Iran was a year or two away from building a nuclear bomb. His estimate coincided with comments by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said that Iran is just three or four months away from being able to produce enough fissile material to build a nuclear weapon.
Nuclear Iran Looms Large
Soeren Kern | Israel My Glory | May/June 2021
Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz recently estimated that Iran was a year or two away from building a nuclear bomb. “If they do everything to break out in terms of enrichment, it will be half a year to produce the needed materials; in terms of nuclear weapons, they are a year or two away,” he told the Kan public broadcaster.
Steinitz’s estimate coincided with comments made by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who said that Iran currently is just three or four months away from being able to produce enough fissile material to build a nuclear weapon. He added that that timeframe could be reduced to “a matter of weeks” if Tehran continues violating the restrictions it agreed to under the 2015 nuclear deal with the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany.
Blinken noted that it would take Iran longer than six months to build an actual nuclear weapon. “The bottom line is they are getting closer to the point where they would be either a threshold nuclear power, or actually a nuclear power,” he said. “That is profoundly against our interests.”
The Biden Administration has pledged to reverse the Trump Administration’s withdrawal from the deal, which was negotiated by the Obama Administration. The deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), lifted economic sanctions against Iran in exchange for curbs on its nuclear program.
