Members of the United States intelligence community are increasingly worried that Iran is moving toward the production of nuclear weapons, according to a report from the Office of the United States Director of National Intelligence (DNI) that was issued on Thursday.
First reported by The Wall Street Journal on Friday, the DNI document warns that “Iran now has enough fissile material to make more than a dozen nuclear weapons,” but has not yet decided to do so.
“The Intelligence Community continues to assess that as of 26 September 2024, Iran is not building a nuclear weapon,” the report stated, but added that it has “undertaken activities that better position it to produce one, if it so chooses.”
The DNI report, titled “Assessment Regarding the Nuclear Activity of the Islamic Republic of Iran,” gave a broad intelligence assessment of Iran’s nuclear activities and capabilities from May to September this year, following up on an an earlier report published in July.
“Tehran has the infrastructure and experience to quickly produce weapons-grade uranium at multiple underground facilities, if it so chooses,” the DNI said, which “bolsters the credibility of threats to develop nuclear weapons.”
“Iran has continued to increase its stockpiles of 20-percent and 60-percent enriched uranium,” the report stated, citing levels that far exceed what would be necessary for a civilian energy program, which is what Tehran claims its nuclear infrastructure is for.
Centrifuges line a hall at the Uranium Enrichment Facility in Natanz, Iran, in a still image from a video aired by the Islamic Republic Iran Broadcasting company on April 17, 2021, six days after the hall had been damaged in a mysterious attack. (IRIB via AP)
A Western diplomatic source told Reuters on Saturday that the increase in the amount of uranium enriched to up to 60% purity is “extremely serious,” unjustified for civilian purposes and contradicts Tehran’s statements regarding credible nuclear negotiations.
“These measures have no credible civilian justification and could, on the contrary, directly fuel a military nuclear program if Iran were to take the decision,” the source said.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Mariano Grossi, warned Friday that Iran stands poised to “quite dramatically” increase its stockpile of near-weapons-grade uranium as it has started cascades of advanced centrifuges.
The DNI report also said that “Iran has the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the region,” and that recent progress with its satellite program would “shorten the timeline to produce an intercontinental ballistic missile” that could carry nuclear weapons.
A woman walks past a banner showing missiles being launched, in northern Tehran, Iran, April 19, 2024. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi, File)
Iran has always denied seeking nuclear weapons and says both its space program and nuclear activities are for purely civilian purposes. However, US intelligence agencies and the IAEA say Iran had an organized military nuclear program up until 2003, and continued to develop its nuclear program beyond civilian necessity. Israel contends that the Islamic Republic never truly abandoned its nuclear weapons program.
Iran is committed to Israel’s destruction. Over the past year, it has twice fired massive barrages of missiles at Israel, which has vowed to prevent Tehran from obtaining nuclear weapons. Israel has struck key Iranian military facilities in retaliation for both attacks, which came in the context of a multifront war opened by Iranian terror proxies on the Jewish state.
