[ad_1]
JERUSALEM – With all eyes on a high-intensity war brewing between Israel and the Islamic Republic of Iran, the status of Tehran’s illicit nuclear weapons program has come under the microscope.
Iran’s extensive airstrike, using more than 300 drones and suicide missiles, against Israel has raised pressing new questions about the Islamic Republic’s ability to fire a nuclear weapon at the Jewish state. For Israel, as the country’s former Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, said, an Iran with an atomic weapon would mean a “nuclear holocaust” for the Jewish State.
On Sunday, after rejecting calls that the Biden administration was too soft on Tehran, White House National Security Communications spokesman John Kirby told Fox News’ Shannon Bream that “Iran is much closer to a potential nuclear weapons capacity than before. “Mr. Trump was elected.”
David Albright, founding physicist and president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital that “Iran would need a year or more to build a semi-releasable warhead for a ballistic missile and approximately two years to reconstitute the “Amad Plan in order to be able to mass produce reliable warheads for ballistic missiles, that is, to have a fully developed nuclear weapons production complex.”
Iran’s regime carried out an atomic weapons program called the Amad Plan from the late 1990s to early 2003.
SEVERAL COUNTRIES COME TO THE HELP OF ISRAEL TO STOP THE SWEEP OF IRAN
In February, Reuters exclusively reported that Iran had enriched uranium far beyond the need for commercial nuclear use. IAEA chief Rafael Grossi told Reuters that while the pace of uranium enrichment had slowed slightly since late last year, Iran was still enriching at a high rate of around 7kg of uranium per month with a 60% purity.
Commenting on the presidential blame game, Albright said: “Neither Trump nor Biden fared well in dealing with Iran’s nuclear program. Biden has fared worse because of his policy of avoidance and his fear of taking any action.” that could create a crisis. This risk aversion “strategy has failed miserably to stop Iran’s progress in its nuclear program and has left the West much weaker to design a policy to stop Iran’s progress, either diplomatically or militarily. “.
Albright warned that “Iran can make a crude nuclear explosive in about six months, capable of being tested underground or delivered by truck, ship or cargo plane. This achievement would be enough to establish Iran as a nuclear weapons power.”
Fox News Digital revealed last year that European intelligence reports showed Iran was still working on building a nuclear weapon.
When asked about the Iranian regime’s launch of a nuclear missile at Israel, Albright said: “The recent attack would not be a good way to cover up an attack with a nuclear weapon. But it shows that to have confidence in getting that a nuclear weapon aims, Iran “We would have to fire several, if not many, missiles with nuclear warheads.”
He warned that “a stealth attack with a nuclear weapon, more akin to a terrorist attack, using highly trusted agents and transportation to Israel by land or sea, may have a better chance of success in the coming years.”
BIDEN CALLS FOR A G7 MEETING IN RESPONSE TO IRAN’S ‘BLANKET’ ATTACK
With President Biden urging Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu do not retaliate against IranThe Jewish state faces one of the most existential security questions since the nation’s rebirth in 1948.
Israeli war planners believe they need to restore deterrence against the Iranian regime.
Albright said: “It is critical to prevent Iran from deciding to build nuclear weapons. The best short-term strategy is to ensure that Iran understands that any move to build nuclear weapons will be met with a rapid, large-scale military attack by Israel. , supported by the United States, followed by additional attacks on its infrastructure if Iran takes steps to rebuild its nuclear weapons capabilities.”
The White House has ruled out involvement in military strikes against what the State Department recently told Fox News Digital is the worst international state sponsor of terrorism: the Iranian regime.
Benny Begin, a veteran former Israeli lawmaker with experience in Iran’s nuclear weapons program, told Fox News Digital that “Iran has already achieved nuclear threshold state status; if not stopped, it will produce a bomb within one or two years after the order has been given. The director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, has recently announced that Iran has accumulated enough highly enriched uranium that would be enough for the production of several nuclear bombs. It should be noted that Iran’s professional discourse is very open about this.”
WORLD LEADERS COLLECTIVELY CONDEMN IRAN’S ‘RECKLESS’ ATTACK AGAINST ISRAEL: ‘WE SUPPORT ISRAEL’
Begin, who held cabinet member status in a previous Netanyahu administration, said “world powers have failed” to stop Iran’s push to build a nuclear weapon device.
The United States and other world powers reached an atomic deal with Iran called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2015. The deal simply imposed temporary restrictions on Iran’s nuclear program and uranium enrichment process, which It is a precondition for building an atomic bomb.
Devastating energy and missile sanctions were imposed on Iran by the US, EU and UN to force the regime to accept concessions. In 2018, former President Trump withdrew from the JCPOA because, he argued, it did not stop Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions or global terrorism. Trump’s reimposition of sanctions on Iran would be called his administration’s “maximum pressure” campaign.
Begin stated that “the ‘maximum pressure’ policy was a good idea and was in fact implemented before 2015, with this or that degree of success. The problem was that the parties to the deal did not react to Iran’s reaction.” in the face of renewed sanctions”. Based on IAEA reports and empty warnings, Iran seized the opportunity, broke the agreement and enriched uranium in an unprecedented amount and at an unprecedented rate.”
When asked about Iran’s numerous drone and missile attacks against Israel, Begin said that “when a regime decides to launch a nuclear warhead (probably a ballistic missile warhead) against its enemy, it must be sure that it will hit its target.” . Since yesterday they have been talking about a high percentage of failed launches of that type of missile that Iran was trying to launch against Israel. So, in a peculiar way, this is an important (albeit negative) lesson they can draw from the attack. the ability of Israel and its allies to thwart such attacks far from Israel.”
Jason Brodsky, policy director at US-based United Against a Nuclear Iran, told Fox News Digital: “After the Trump administration withdrew from the JCPOA in 2018, Iran undertook only a modest, incremental expansion of its program. But after Iran’s risk tolerance increased under the Biden administration due to its perceived desperation for diplomacy.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
He said that “the United States should support E3 [Britain, France and Germany] activate the snapback sanctions mechanism in the UN Security Council and participate in joint military action with Israel against the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps in Iran. “This would create deterrence against Tehran, which has been dangerously eroded over the years.”
The US State Department did not immediately respond to a press inquiry from Fox News Digital.
Reuters contributed to this report.
[ad_2]