\u201cHow Iran Got to the Nuclear Threshold on the Watch of Three U.S. Presidents,\u201d<\/a> WSJ, 5-19-26.\u00a0\u00a0\u201cTehran expanded its atomic program after Trump quit the 2015 nuclear deal and then accelerated its work under Biden. \u2026\u00a0Iran\u2019s leaders have long insisted that they weren\u2019t working on nuclear weapons. Iran isn\u2019t currently enriching uranium and would need to recover fissile material that is buried under tons of rubble if it wanted to sprint to a bomb. But experts, including the U.N.\u2019s atomic agency, have long assessed that Tehran was developing the technological option to develop a nuclear arsenal. With much of Iran\u2019s pre-war leadership dead, Washington is grappling with the possibility that the country\u2019s new leaders may be even less disposed to compromise. Iran still has 10 tons of enriched material, including enough near-weapons-grade material to fuel almost 11 nuclear weapons. It has an unknown number of centrifuges, which are the machines for enriching uranium. Despite Israel\u2019s killing of numerous Iranian nuclear scientists, Iran retains the know-how to start enriching again and probably, experts say, to undertake most key steps for building a nuclear weapon. The U.S.\u2019s biggest concern centers on Iran\u2019s nearly 1,000 pounds of uranium that is enriched to 60% purity. But Iran also has about 440 pounds of 20% enriched uranium. Those materials could be enriched up to 90% weapons-grade material in weeks. Civilian nuclear programs generally rely on low enriched uranium. Iran was the only nonnuclear-weapons country to produce 60% enriched uranium before last June\u2019s attacks.\u201d\u00a0 Remember, this is a conscious choice of the Regime.\u00a0 It wants the protection nuclear weapons provide, and the cover for whatever it wants to do on the world stage:\u00a0 terrorism, Shia Crescent expansion, the spread of the Revolution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iran may try to charge \u201cprotection fees\u201d for subsea fiber-optic cables crossing Hormuz. \u00a0\u201cIran finds a new weapon beneath Hormuz,\u201d Iran International, 5-19-26. Do not be confused by this possibility.\u00a0 He was under house arrest and was opposed by the Supreme Leader. \u00a0And the article says he was \u201cconsulted.\u201d\u00a0 Apparently the U.S. and Israel believed … <\/p>\n
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