US official: Iran’s ability to produce enough fissile material for a bomb has been reduced from 1 year to 12 days

Iran has been steadily building up its nuclear weapons capability since 2018, when the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Defense Secretary for Political Affairs Colin Khal said Tuesday. Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA-EFE

Feb. 28 (UPI) — Iran’s ability to produce enough material for an atomic bomb has shrunk from a year to less than two weeks, a senior Pentagon official said Tuesday, warning of “remarkable” progress in the Middle East nation’s nuclear program. following the Trump administration’s withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.

“Iran’s nuclear progress since we withdrew from the JCPOA has been remarkable,” Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Hal said Tuesday during a hearing on Ukraine.

“Back in 2018, when the previous administration decided to withdraw from the JCPOA, it would have taken Iran about 12 months to produce one fissile material bomb. Now it would take about 12 days.”

Iconic, the Obama-era JCPOA was a multilateral pact aimed at preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but Tehran has repeatedly increased uranium enrichment since then President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew the United States from the agreement and imposed sanctions on Iran.

Last week the International Atomic Energy Agency announced he “discussed with Iran the results of the Agency’s recent verification activities” after Bloomberg reported A United Nations nuclear observer was trying to figure out how Tehran accumulated 84 percent uranium enrichment.

According to Center for Arms Control and NonproliferationWeapon-grade uranium is generally considered to be about 90% enriched.

The Biden administration has sought to bring Iran back to the negotiating table on a new deal, with Hal’s remarks coming in response to a question by Rep. Jim Banks, D-Ind., who questioned a Pentagon official why the current administration is “obsessed” upon returning to the JCPOA.

“I think there is still a perception that if you can resolve this issue through diplomacy and bring back restrictions on their nuclear program, that is better than other options,” Khal said.

Biden administration officials have said there is little to no discussion of resuming the JCPOA with Secretary of State Anthony Blinken at this time. tell reporters in January that “the Iranians missed the opportunity to quickly return to this agreement many months ago.”

Khal said that a deal with Iran was brought up for discussion in the summer, to which Tehran did not agree. According to him, his recent behavior, including the supply of weapons to Russia – one of the parties to the JCPOA – in its war in Ukraine, further pushes back the possibility of a renewal of the JCPOA.

“I don’t think we are on the verge of re-entering the JCPOA,” he said. “JCPOA will not appear on the horizon in the near future.”

While the Biden administration continues to press for a diplomatic solution, officials have said the United States will not allow Iran to acquire a nuclear weapon, a statement Hal repeated on Tuesday.

“The administration’s position continues to be that a diplomatic deal to impose restrictions on Iran’s program remains the best alternative to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon,” he said. “But the president has also made it clear that his policy is that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon. Dot. And if a diplomatic outcome is not possible, we have other options to deal with this problem.”

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