Iran's nuclear ambitions: Quick path to atomic bomb revealed
According to reports from the "New York Times," Iran has assembled a group of scientists to investigate the possibility of quickly building an atomic bomb, potentially reducing the timeline from years to just months.
American intelligence assessments, as reported by the "New York Times" on Monday, indicate that Iran has organized a team of scientists to explore the feasibility of swiftly constructing an atomic bomb. Although the program has not yet commenced, it could potentially expedite bomb production from years to months.
Iranian authorities maintain that they are not pursuing a nuclear program for military purposes. However, in recent years, the country has rapidly increased its production of enriched uranium. According to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Iran currently possesses about 440 pounds of uranium enriched to 60 percent, sufficient to build four to five atomic bombs. Further enriching uranium to the 90 percent level required for military applications would take only a few days.
"But enriching the uranium to bomb grade is not enough for Iran to produce a nuclear weapon. Some Israeli estimates were even longer, upward of two years. The intelligence assessment warned that Iranian weapons engineers and scientists were essentially looking for a shortcut that would enable them to turn their growing stockpile of nuclear fuel into a workable weapon in a matter of months, rather than a year or more — but only if Tehran made a decision to change its current approach," the New York newspaper explained.
One of the Iranian opposition exile organizations reported on Friday that Iran is developing a nuclear warhead project to be mounted on a missile with a range of up to 1,864 miles.
Is Iran weaker than ever?
According to the newspaper's sources, U.S. intelligence obtained this information in the last months of Joe Biden's presidency, with the findings also passed on to Donald Trump's new administration. "Iran has never been weaker than it is today, in the view of American and Israeli officials. Hamas and Hezbollah, which it has funded and armed, have lost their leadership and their ability to strike Israel. Syria’s leader, Bashar al-Assad, has fled to Moscow and his country is no longer an easy route for Iranian weapon," the "NYT" assessed.
The newspaper added that, according to American and Israeli officials, Iran "has never been weaker" than it is now. In 2023-24, two Iran-backed groups, the Palestinian Hamas and the Lebanese Hezbollah, engaged in conflict with Israel. Currently, uncertain ceasefires are in place, but both organizations have been significantly weakened and have lost their regional standing. Consequently, Tehran has lost the ability to intimidate Israel through these groups' attacks.
Iran also suffered significant losses in two direct Israeli retaliatory attacks in 2024. According to Israeli assessments, a large portion of Iran's air defenses were destroyed, and facilities including rocket fuel factories were damaged. The final blow was the fall of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad, one of Iran's closest allies in the region, in December 2024.
The issue of Iran will certainly be a topic during Tuesday's conversation between Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, noted the 'NYT'. Netanyahu has been on the verge of ordering a preemptive attack on Iranian nuclear facilities for years but has ultimately refrained, often under U.S. pressure. "Mr. Trump has indicated that he is in no hurry to get into a direct conflict with Iran, and seems open to a negotiation. When asked just after the inauguration whether he would support an Israeli strike on the facilities, he said: 'Hopefully that can be worked out without having to worry about it. It would really be nice if that could be worked out without having to go that further step,'" the New York newspaper commented.
