You see a page from the old site of Iran International that is no longer updated. Visit iranintl.com to view the new site.

Israel Sees 6-Month Iran Nuclear Breakout, Longer Than Blinken Projection

JERUSALEM, Feb 2 (Reuters) - Israel's energy minister said on Tuesday it would take Iran around six months to produce enough fissile material for a single nuclear weapon, a timeline almost twice as long as that anticipated by a senior member of the Biden administration.

Israel is wary of the Biden administration's intent to reenter the 2015 Iranian nuclear deal and has long opposed the agreement. Washington argues that the previous Trump administration's withdrawal from the deal backfired by prompting Iran to abandon caps on nuclear activities.

Speaking last month a day before he took office as U.S. secretary of state, Antony Blinken said that the so-called "breakout time" - in which Iran might ramp up enrichment of uranium to bomb-fuel purity - "has gone from beyond a year (under the deal) to about three or four months". He said he based his comments on information in public reporting.

But Israeli Energy Minister Yuval Steinitz, in a radio interview, said the Trump administration "seriously damaged Iran's nuclear project and entire force build-up".

"In terms of enrichment, they (Iranians) are in a situation of breaking out in around half a year if they do everything required," he told public broadcaster Kan. "As for nuclear weaponry, the range is around one or two years."

Iran, which denies seeking nuclear weaponry, has recently accelerated its breaches of the deal, which it started violating in 2019 response to the U.S. withdrawal and reimposition of sanctions against it.

The last quarterly estimates by the U.N. nuclear watchdog in November show that Iran's stock of enriched uranium had risen to 2.4 tonnes, more than 10 times the amount allowed under the deal but still a fraction of the more than eight tonnes it had before.

Since then Iran has started enriching uranium to higher purity, returning to the 20% it achieved before the deal from a previous maximum of 4.5%. The deal sets a limit of 3.67%, far below the 90% that is weapons grade. 

Iran in Brief
City officials in Iran's capital Tehran are planning to put locks on large waste containers in the streets to prevent garbage pickers from accessing waste.More
The Biden Administration has confirmed to the US Congress that sanction imposed by its predecessor on Iran have drastically reduced Iran's trade with the world.More
The UK government said on Sept 20 that Britain would "not rest" until all its dual nationals being held in Iran were returned home.More
President Ebrahim Raisi’s vice president in women’s affairs has refused to support an age limit in child marriage, a controversial issue in Iran.More
In first news about detained Iranian dissident rap singer Toomaj, Iran International has learned that was arrested by the intelligence ministry.More