WP: Iran is closer than ever to nuclear weapons

Iran is closer than ever to nuclear weapons as a result of the US withdrawal from the nuclear deal in 2018.

With this statement The Washington Post (WP) spoke with reference to officials and confidential documents.

The publication's sources claim that Tehran currently has enough enriched uranium reserves for at least three atomic bombs, the creation of which can take from several days to several weeks. It may take two years or more to create a warhead for a rocket based on a primitive nuclear bomb, they said. they.

As employees of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), as well as former and current members of American and European intelligence, told the newspaper on condition of anonymity, Iran is accumulating the necessary means to create nuclear weapons, without taking too obvious steps towards this goal. American officials noted that Tehran has recently sought to dilute a certain percentage of the enriched uranium it has in order to avoid an escalation of conflict with the West. However, according to documents reviewed by WP, the country's production of enriched uranium is running at a record pace, and its cumulative nuclear stockpile fuel continues to increase. At the same time, the publication emphasizes that it is not known whether Iran will decide as a result of creating a nuclear bomb.

According to the newspaper's interlocutors, the collapse of the nuclear deal has sharply limited the IAEA's ability to monitor Iran's nuclear activities and investigate information about secret nuclear weapons development. An American official close to the agency said the IAEA now has less ability to detect a potential breakthrough in Iran's development. atomic weapons. He suggested that Tehran's success in creating such weapons would lead to a number of consequences – from an arms race in the Middle East to a direct armed conflict between Iran and Israel that could spread to the entire region. According to the official's assessment, Iran is “walking on the edge”.

According to the IAEA documents cited WP, six years after the U.S. pulled out of the nuclear deal, Iran has managed to bypass almost all of the deal's limits on the amount of enriched uranium it was allowed to have. A senior European diplomat told the paper that Tehran “feels very comfortable” in confrontation with the West, including thanks to Russia's support.