Experts Predict “Only a Matter of Weeks” Before Iran Has Nuclear Weapons Potential

(RightWing.org) – When President Biden took office, one of his priorities was restoring the Iran nuclear deal he helped negotiate as vice president, which was scrapped by former president Donald Trump who claimed Iran was violating the deal. Now it’s clear he was right, as the CIA warns the rogue state could be just weeks away from building nuclear weapons.

Only ‘A Matter of Weeks’ Before Iran Could Be Able to Manufacture Nuclear Weapons: CIA Chiefhttps://t.co/GBAscN6xq7

— David Gay (@DavidBenJesse) February 28, 2023

On February 26, CIA director William Burns told CBS Iran has now succeeded in enriching uranium to a high enough purity to be able to bring it to weapons-grade in “a matter of weeks.” Burns added he doesn’t believe Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini has made the decision to produce weapons yet, but the country’s enrichment program has now brought Iran’s goal within reach.

Iran is allowed to build nuclear power stations, which run on uranium, but it doesn’t need to be highly enriched uranium. Enrichment means removing some of the stable U-238 isotope and leaving behind the much rarer and unstable U-235; this is a long, slow process, but Iran has been doing it for years. The country is allowed to enrich reactor fuel to 3.67% U-235, but it’s gone far beyond that now; the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) says it has found particles of 83.7% U-235 at Iran’s Fordow Enrichment Plant. A nuclear weapon needs 85% enrichment — and no other use for uranium needs more than 20%.

On February 28, DOD undersecretary Colin Kahn said Iran’s “breakout time” — the time it would take to make enough weapons-grade uranium for one bomb — had fallen sharply, from 12 months five years ago to just 12 days now. If the country had already manufactured the other parts of the weapon, that would mean it could put a nuclear warhead together in about two weeks. The IAEA says it’s “discussing” the issue with Iran, but if the US really wants to stop the ayatollahs from obtaining nuclear weapons, one thing is clear; it’s way past the point where Biden’s nuclear deal is going to do the job.