U.S. says Iran capable of developing nuclear bomb in two weeks

Iran has the capacity to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear device in less than two weeks, according to an assessment by the U.S. 

The U.S. Department of Defence’s 2023 Strategy for Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction report states that Iran is a “persistent threat” and that while it has the capacity to build a bomb in two weeks, “it is assessed that Iran is not pursuing a nuclear weapons programme at this time.”

Further, the United States assesses Iran to be “noncompliant with its Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) obligations. For example, Iran has not submitted a complete chemical weapons production facility declaration to comply with CWC processes.”

“The U.S. is also concerned that Iran is pursuing dual-use central nervous system-acting chemicals for offensive purposes,” the report concluded.

Iran rapidly advanced its nuclear programme in the past two years, but still denies it has any intentions of developing nuclear weapons.

Israel has repeatedly warned it will now allow Iran to become a nuclear state, although experts believe that Tehran should already be categorised as a nuclear threshold state due to its advanced programme.

Iran, on its part, has been vocal in its criticism of Saudi Arabia’s normalisation talks with Israel.

“Normalising relations with the Zionist regime is a reactionary and regressive move by any government in the Islamic world,” Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi said on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia is reportedly seeking permission from the U.S. to get its own nuclear programme in return for normalising ties with Israel, while threatening with developing its own nuclear weapons if Iran does.