Iran will have enough fissile material to make a nuclear bomb in “about 12 days,” Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl told a House of Representatives hearing, Reuters reported. The estimate is startingly shorter than the previous estimated one-year window when Iran’s 2015 nuclear agreement with the world powers, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, or JCPOA, was in effect. Kahl was responding to question by a Republican lawmaker about why the Biden administration had sought to revive the nuclear deal that President Donald Trump left in 2018. While Iran could produce enough fissile material for a nuclear bomb, they do not believe it has the technology to build a bomb.
Meanwhile, the United Nations nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency, confirmed on Tuesday that it had detected particles of uranium enriched to just under the 90% needed to produce an atomic bomb, AFP reported, citing a confidential IAEA report. Last week, Iran claimed it had not made any attempt to enrich uranium beyond 60%.
Meanwhile, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency reported on Wednesday that the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, will visit the Islamic Republic on Friday for high-level meetings.