Reuters has reported on the growing nuclear threats from Iran, Russia, China, and North Korea, challenges that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will face when he takes office in January.
The report notes the possibility that Iran may decide to pursue nuclear weapons and mentions that, following a retaliatory strike by Israel, a senior Iranian official said Tehran might reconsider its self-imposed ban on developing nuclear weapons.
Kamal Kharazi, head of Iran’s Strategic Council on Foreign Relations, stated in this regard: “If Iran’s existence is threatened, we will be forced to change our nuclear doctrine.”
Reuters adds that when the United Nations Security Council resolution allowing the rapid reimposition of international sanctions against Iran expires the U.S. and its European allies will lose their remaining options on the matter.
In 2018, Donald Trump withdrew the U.S. from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which analysts say led Iran to violate its nuclear commitments.
Under that agreement, Tehran had restricted uranium enrichment, an activity seen by the West as a covert effort to develop nuclear weapons capabilities.
American officials state that the time required for Iran to produce enough enriched uranium for a warhead has now decreased from one year to a few weeks or even days, though it would still take Iran longer to develop an actual bomb.
In a confidential report on August 29, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) stated that Iran had increased its stockpile of enriched uranium to levels “close to weapons-grade,” in defiance of international demands.
Experts say that increasing the enrichment of uranium from 60% purity to weapons-grade 90% requires only “a short technical step.”
On November 5, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump stated at a campaign rally that he wants Iran to be “a very successful country” but “cannot allow it to have nuclear weapons.”
The next day, Rafael Grossi, the director general of the IAEA, said he might travel to Tehran in the coming days to discuss Iran’s nuclear program.
He also added that he hopes to work with U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to address Iran’s nuclear challenge.
