Iran’s nuclear breakout to be complete in 1-2 weeks, Blinken warns – Firstpost

Amid growing tensions in the Middle East, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the time it would take for Iran to develop a nuclear weapon is likely to be just one or two weeks. Breakout time refers to the time it takes to produce enough weapons-grade material to develop a nuclear warhead.

It was the shortest assessment of the breakout time that a U.S. official has given on the matter. Blinken’s comments came amid reports that Iran is ramping up its production of fissile material. “Where we are right now is not in a good position,” the top U.S. diplomat said Friday at the Aspen Security Forum. CNN reported.

“Iran, because the nuclear deal was rejected, is now probably a week or two away from having the breakout capability to produce fissile material for a nuclear weapon, rather than at least a year away from having the breakout capability to produce fissile material for a nuclear weapon,” he said. “They haven’t produced a weapon themselves yet, but that’s something we’re obviously watching very, very closely,” the U.S. diplomat continued.

What is America’s plan?

Blinken noted that it is the policy of the United States to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. He insisted that the administration of US President Joe Biden intends to achieve its goals through diplomacy. Blinken’s comments came a year after a senior US Defense Department official said Iran could now produce “one bomb’s worth of fissile material” in “about 12 days.”

Since then, the Biden administration has spent more than a year engaged in indirect negotiations with Iran aimed at reviving the Iran nuclear deal. In 2018, it was the United States that withdrew from the deal under the administration of former US President Donald Trump.

The effort to revive the deal collapsed further in late 2022 when the US accused Iran of making “unreasonable” demands in connection with an investigation by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The UN watchdog was investigating unexplained traces of uranium found at unknown Iranian sites.

Earlier this month, Iran’s new president, Masoud Pezeshkian, suggested his government would be open to engagement with the West. However, a senior foreign ministry official told CNN that they no longer believe that a return to the nuclear deal of the past is possible.

“We live in a very different world, a lot of time has passed and Iran has done a lot of things that make a return to the JCPOA not feasible,” the official claimed. Similar claims were made by State Department spokesman Matthew Miller. “We do not expect this election to result in a fundamental change in the direction of Iran or its policies,” the US official said earlier this month.

“Ultimately, it is not the president who has the final say on the future of Iran’s policy; it is the supreme leader, and of course we have seen the direction in which he has led Iran. If the new president had the authority to take steps to curb Iran’s nuclear program, to stop financing terrorism, and to stop destabilizing activities in the region, we would welcome that. But obviously we do not expect that that is what is likely to happen,” he added.

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