Tehran is ‘capable of manufacturing nuclear bombs,’ says Khamenei adviser : Al Jazeera.

According to a senior adviser to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran possesses the technical ability to create a nuclear weapon but has not yet made the decision whether to do so.

 

After Joe Biden’s four-day visit to Israel and Saudi Arabia came to a close, Kamal Kharrazi spoke, promising to prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

 

Kharrazi’s remarks were a rare indication that Iran, which has long denied wanting nuclear weapons, would be interested in developing them.

 

“We were able to enrich uranium to a 60 percent concentration in a matter of days, and we have no trouble making 90 percent enriched uranium. Iran has the technological capability to create a nuclear weapon, but has not yet decided to do so “said Kharrazi.

 

Iran already exceeds the 3.67 percent limit set by the country’s 2015 nuclear agreement with major powers by enriching its uranium to up to 60 percent. For nuclear bombs, uranium must be enriched to 90%.

 

In exchange for respite from economic sanctions, Iran agreed to limit its uranium enrichment activities, which may lead to the development of nuclear weapons, under the terms of the nuclear agreement, which Trump abandoned in 2018.

 

Tehran began breaking the nuclear constraints of the agreement in response to Washington’s exit and its reimposition of severe sanctions.

 

The development of nuclear weapons was prohibited by Khamenei in a fatwa, or religious decree, issued in the early 2000s. Last year, Iran’s intelligence minister warned that Western pressure might lead Tehran to seek out such weapons.

 

‘We were able to enrich uranium to a 60 percent concentration in a matter of days, and we have no trouble making 90 percent enriched uranium. Iran has the technological capability to create a nuclear weapon, but has not yet decided to do so,’ said Kharrazi.

 

Iran already exceeds the 3.67 percent limit set by the country’s 2015 nuclear agreement with major powers by enriching its uranium to up to 60 percent. A nuclear bomb can be made with uranium that has been enriched to 90%.