JERUSALEM – As Iran escalates its threats of a substantial strike against U.S. ally Israel and potentially American interests in the region, the rogue regime in Tehran is on the verge of developing a nuclear bomb.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., stated last month after reviewing a Director of National Intelligence report on Iran’s nuclear program, “I am convinced that if we do not alter our approach, Iran will have a nuclear weapon in the coming weeks or months.” He emphasized, “Iran will not stop until someone intervenes. It’s time to establish definitive boundaries on their nuclear aspirations. The current ambiguity is ineffective.”
Graham described the DNI report’s conclusions as “disturbing” and noted that Iran’s “capability to weaponize material has progressed” concerning nuclear armaments.
Weeks prior to Graham’s alarming statement about Iran nearing a nuclear arms status, he sent a pointed letter to DNI head Avril Haines claiming, “You are violating the law” for her strong resistance to sharing critical data with Congress regarding Iran’s nuclear advancements. In 2022, Congress mandated that the government provide updates on Iran’s atomic endeavors. Haines ultimately complied after Graham took the matter public in the media.
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This satellite image from Planet Labs PBC depicts Iran’s nuclear facility in Isfahan, Iran, as of April 4, 2024. (Planet Labs PBC via AP)
Graham told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on July 31 that without the Iranian regime, there would be no Hamas or Hezbollah. He urged Israel to conduct strikes against Iranian oil facilities to curtail Iranian aggression. In April, Iran launched more than 300 missiles, drones, and rockets targeting Israel.
A spokesperson from the U.S. State Department informed Fox News Digital, “As the President and Secretary have made clear, the United States will ensure that Iran will never acquire a nuclear weapon, one way or the other.
“We will continue collaborating with Congress to employ various strategies to achieve this goal, and all options remain available.”
Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, on Nov. 10, 2019. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)
The spokesperson indicated, “The intelligence community still assesses that the Supreme Leader has yet to decide to recommence the nuclear weapons program that Iran paused in 2003. Nonetheless, we remain extremely worried about Iran’s ongoing growth of nuclear activities that lack any credible civilian justification and continue to monitor them closely.”
However, Fox News Digital noted in July 2023 that reports from European intelligence agencies contradict the Biden administration’s claim that Iran has not resumed its atomic weapons agenda. The Netherlands General and Intelligence Security Service (AIVD) evaluated that Tehran’s advancement in weapons-grade uranium “brings the prospect of a potential [Iranian] first nuclear test nearer.”
Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addresses reporters during elections in Tehran, Iran, on May 10, 2024. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)
When questioned about claims that the Biden administration has not enforced oil and gas sanctions against Iran, the State Department spokesperson stated, “The Biden Administration has not rescinded any sanctions against Iran. In fact, we are intensifying pressure. Our comprehensive sanctions on Iran remain effective, and we are actively enforcing them. Over the past three years, the United States has sanctioned more than 700 individuals and entities tied to a wide spectrum of Iran’s reckless and destabilizing actions.”
Republican lawmakers and Iran specialists have criticized the Biden administration for perceived appeasement towards the mullah regime by unfreezing tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief.
The spokesperson added, “Since 2021, we have imposed sanctions on numerous individuals and entities across various regions, including the PRC, UAE, and Southeast Asia for their roles in the production, sale, and transport of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum products. We have also designated numerous vessels involved in this trade as blocked property.”
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David Albright, physicist and founder of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital, “Sen. Graham’s expression of being ‘unnerved’ is important to acknowledge. The intelligence community’s evaluation has been inaccurate since its 2007 National Intelligence Estimate.”
Albright is regarded as one of the foremost experts on Iran’s nuclear developments. He remarked, “While Sen. Graham highlighted some advancements in Iran’s capability to produce nuclear weapons, particularly concerning the weaponization of weapons-grade uranium, his comments were rather brief and lacked detailed substance. However, significant intelligence assessments may or may not emerge. Nevertheless, I cannot provide further insights based on the senator’s statements.”
A military truck transports a missile past a portrait of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an annual military event. (Atta Kenare/AFP/GettyImages)
Albright, who was closely involved with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Action Team from 1992 to 1997, focusing on Iraq’s nuclear materials and past procurement activities, and in 1996 was the first non-governmental inspector of the Iraqi nuclear program, elaborated, “It’s evident that the DNI report noted a short timeline for Iran to generate a considerable amount of weapon-grade uranium, but this information is old news reaffirmed by the IAEA in its periodic updates and standard calculations. The new development is Iran’s recent expansion at the deeply buried Fordow facility, which enhances Iran’s capacity to produce substantial quantities of weapon-grade uranium in a matter of days at that site. Still, this has been acknowledged in previous reports.”
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken stated in July regarding Iran’s pursuit of a nuclear weapon, “Rather than being at least a year away from achieving the capacity to produce fissile material for a nuclear weapon, (Iran) is now likely just one or two weeks away from accomplishing that.”
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Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel in Tehran during the presentation of a missile at a military rally on Nov. 24, 2023. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
In discussing the breakout concept, Albright stated, “Breakout is generally defined as the duration needed for Iran to generate sufficient weapon-grade material for a single nuclear weapon. For many months, this timeframe has been measured in days rather than months, based on IAEA reports and standard calculation techniques that we frequently circulate and are available on our website.”
He further noted, “A prevalent analysis, which we share, indicates that Iran has not officially decided to manufacture nuclear arms, and consequently, it has not determined to breakout and produce weapon-grade uranium.”
“Breakout is seldom referenced in relation to the overall time Iran would require to construct its inaugural nuclear weapon,” Albright emphasized. “This timeline is contingent upon the breakout capability along with the type of weapon Iran would design. Our estimation suggests that Iran could fabricate a crude nuclear device, capable of being truck-delivered or detonated underground within six months. It would take an additional six months for a rushed project to develop a reliable nuclear warhead compatible with a ballistic missile.”
Gabriel Noronha, a former advisor on Iran at the U.S. Department of State, conveyed to Fox News Digital, “Iran has been shortening its nuclear enrichment breakout timeline over the last five years, although that’s distinct from making an active decision to expedite weapon development. Nevertheless, they appreciate the leverage that being close to this threshold affords them, especially since they are now under two weeks away from acquiring enough enriched uranium and have faced no significant repercussions.”
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An arch glorifying Hezbollah features portraits of its leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and Iran’s Ali Khamenei in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Jan. 16, 2011. (Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images)
Noronha stated, “It remains unclear how far Iran’s weaponization efforts have advanced toward constructing a weapon and whether it could be paired with a missile capable of striking Israel or other American allies. What’s evident from Sen. Graham’s press briefing is that Iran is continually edging closer concerning this aspect of its nuclear agenda.”
Noronha, who is also a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), called for “Biden to establish a clear and credible threshold that any further advancements toward acquiring a nuclear weapon would prompt a military response. He should only make such threats if prepared to implement them. If President Biden genuinely intends to avert military action, he must deploy every potential diplomatic and economic consequence in the meantime to dissuade Iran from progressing further.”
