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Iran ‘weeks away’ from enough uranium for nuclear bomb: Watchdog group

While additional elements are needed for functional nuclear warhead, Iran is well on its way to obtaining enough uranium for a nuclear weapon.

By World Israel News Staff

The chief of an international nuclear watchdog group said on Monday that Iran could obtain the amount of enriched uranium needed to create a nuclear weapon in just a few weeks.

Rafael Grossi, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), told German outlet DW that Iran is “weeks, rather than months” away from having weapons-level supplies of uranium.

But, Grossi clarified, “that does not mean that Iran has or would have a nuclear weapon in that space of time.”

He explained that “a functional nuclear warhead requires many other things independently from the production of the fissile material.”

Coupled with Iran’s lack of transparency regarding its nuclear program, which Tehran claims is strictly for civilian purposes, the continued enrichment of uranium raises many questions for Grossi and the international community.

“I have been telling my Iranian counterparts time and again – this activity raises eyebrows and compounded with the fact that we are not getting the necessary degree of access and visibility that I believe should be necessary,” Grossi told DW.

“When you put all of that together, then, of course, you end up with lots of question marks.”

He added that Iran’s reasons for being secretive about its nuclear program, as well as its goals, are “a matter of speculation.”

For example, traces of enriched uranium have been detected t various compounds throughout the country, which Iran did not disclose were nuclear sites.

Despite the likelihood that Iran is well on its way to obtaining a nuclear weapon, he said that the international community should focus on maintaining dialogue with Tehran.

In what appeared to be a reference to the possibility that Israel would launch a strike against Iran’s nuclear sites, Grossi said he was vehemently opposed to such a move.

“Attacking nuclear facilities is an absolute no-go,” he said.