A noticeable declaration by an official pentagon Colin Kahl, the undersecretary of Defense for policy, said that Iran has enough material to develop a nuclear bomb within 12 days.

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Edited by |ANNA SAM
POLITICS SECTION CJ JOURNALIST
MARCH, 1, 2023 - WASHINGTON -USA

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Added that Tehran’s nuclear development progress has been “remarkable” since the Trump administration withdrew from a nuclear pact in 2018.

“In 2018 … it would have taken Iran about twelve months to produce one bomb’s worth of fissile material,” Kahl told lawmakers at a House Armed Services Committee hearing. “Now it would take about twelve days.”

The United Nations’ nuclear watchdog recently warned Iran has enriched uranium at one nuclear site up to 83 percent, close to the 90 percent enrichment level needed to produce weapons-grade material.

About 192 pounds of Iran’s uranium stockpile is already enriched up to 60 percent and the nation could produce several bombs, according to the UN, but it would likely take months to fit those onto missiles.

Negotiations between the Biden administration and Iran on restarting a key nuclear pact to constrain Tehran’s ability to produce nuclear weapons have stalled in recent months.

Kahl said the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) is “on ice” and “not on the horizon in the near term” for the Biden administration.

“The administration’s position remains that a diplomatic deal to put constraints around Iran’s program remains the best alternative to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon,” he told lawmakers.