US officials do not believe that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has formally ordered the production of a nuclear weapon. [Getty]
Iran has tasked a team of nuclear scientists with exploring how to develop a nuclear bomb within a shorter frame, The New York Times reported, citing current and former US officials.
The weapon could be built within a matter of months, the report said, based on intelligence gathered by the Biden administration in its last weeks and shared with the Trump transition team.
It is believed that the weapon would be a cruder version of a model based on blueprints developed and sold by Pakistani scientist AQ Khan more than 25 years ago.Â
The fast-tracked model would not be suitable for mounting on modern ballistic missiles and would likely not be as reliable.
Previously, US and Israeli intelligence believed that an Iranian nuclear warhead would take between a year and 18 months to develop from highly enriched uranium.
However, US officials do not believe that Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has formally ordered the production of a nuclear weapon.
Iran is believed to be developing these capabilities to deter attacks from the United States or Israel, particularly given the downgrading of its regional allies Hamas and Hezbollah after over a year of war with Israel, and the overthrow of the Iran-backed Assad regime in Syria.
On Tuesday, a US official told Reuters that President Donald Trump is expected to sign a presidential memorandum to restore his “maximum pressure” campaign on Iran to stop the country from getting a nuclear weapon and drive down its oil exports to zero.
The report came as Trump prepared to hold talks later on Tuesday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington.
Israel has long lobbied the US for action against Iran, including military intervention.
