Iran capable of producing fissile material for nuclear weapon in ‘1 or 2 weeks’, Blinken says
- Though new leader Pezeshkian favours reviving a 2015 nuclear deal, Blinken says Tehran’s atomic activities are ‘actually moving forward’
Iran is capable of producing fissile material for use in a nuclear weapon within “one or two weeks”, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday.
News of Iran’s capabilities follows the recent election of President Masoud Pezeshkian, who has said his goal is to “get Iran out of its isolation”, and who favours reviving the 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and global powers.
Blinken said that “what we’ve seen in the last weeks and months is an Iran that’s actually moving forward” with its nuclear programme.
The United States unilaterally withdrew in 2018 from the Iran nuclear deal, which was designed to regulate Iran’s atomic activities in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
Speaking at a security forum in Colorado, Blinken blamed the collapse of the nuclear deal for the acceleration in Iran’s capabilities.
