WASHINGTON– Iran has the capacity to produce fissile material for a nuclear weapon in “one to two weeks,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.
“What we’ve seen over the last few weeks and months is an Iran that is really moving forward” with its nuclear program, Blinken said.
The United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from a nuclear deal with Iran designed to regulate the Islamic Republic’s atomic activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
At a security forum in Colorado, in the western United States, Blinken blamed the situation on the collapse of this nuclear agreement.
“Iran, since the nuclear deal was scrapped, instead of being at least a year away from having the ability to produce fissile material for a nuclear weapon, is now probably one to two weeks away from achieving that,” he said, adding that the country has not yet developed a weapon.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said in June that Iran was further expanding its nuclear capabilities, and Tehran said it was installing more sets of centrifuges at its Natanz and Fordow enrichment facilities, both in the north-central part of the country.
According to the IAEA, Iran is the only non-nuclear weapons state that enriches uranium to the level of 60%, just below weapons-grade.
In addition, the country continues to accumulate large reserves of uranium, which the agency says are enough to build several atomic bombs.
The Islamic Republic has been gradually moving away from its commitments under the 2015 deal, but acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri told CNN this week that the goal is “the revival of the 2015 agreement.”
“We are not seeking a new agreement,” he added.
Blinken made the comments about Tehran’s nuclear program just days after the U.S. Secret Service announced it had increased security for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump weeks ago after learning of an alleged Iranian plot to kill him.
Iranian President-elect Massoud Pezeshkian has said his goal is to “bring Iran out of its isolation” and that he is in favour of resurrecting the 2015 nuclear deal between the country and global powers.
Source: With information from AFP.