Iran International
The US Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) says Iran has bolstered activities since 2020 that could help it develop nukes, but it is not currently pursuing a bomb.
"Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons development activities that would be necessary to produce a testable nuclear device," ODNI said in its assessment examining Iran's efforts and advancements in its nuclear enrichment program and information related to potential weaponization and delivery systems, which it released on Monday.
The unclassified two-page summary of the assessment, which is dated June 2023, also said Iran continues to message that it would return to full compliance if the United States provided sanctions relief and fulfilled its commitments under the 2015 nuclear deal, and if the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) closed its safeguards investigations related to three undeclared nuclear sites.
The administration of President Joe Biden has been trying to revive the deal, officially known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which former President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from in 2018, imposing draconian sanctions on the Islamic Republic.
There has also been talk of a new version of the JCPOA, but the involvement of the FBI in looking into the conduct of US envoy for Iran, Rob Malley, in the past few months appears to have slowed down such efforts.
According to the ODNI's assessment, Iran produced small quantities of uranium metal enriched up to 20 percent in 2021, which it claims are for the purpose of research and development for a new type of reactor fuel, although the production of uranium metal was prohibited under the JCPOA as a key capability needed to produce nuclear weapons.
Iran has also continued to increase the size and enrichment level of its uranium stockpile beyond JCPOA limits, as well as continuing to exceed JCPOA restrictions on advanced centrifuge research and development and enrichment operations at the deeply buried Fordow facility, which was also prohibited under the JCPOA, the assessment said.
"Iran's ballistic missile programs, which already include the largest inventory of ballistic missiles in the region, continue to pose a threat to countries across the Middle East. Iran has emphasized improving the accuracy, lethality, and reliability of its missiles. Iran's work on space launch vehicles (SLVs)—including its Simorgh—shortens the timeline to an ICBM if it decided to develop one because SLVs and ICBMs use similar technologies," ODNI said.
A fresh batch of European intelligence reports in June suggested that Iran is still carrying out illicit activities towards securing the technology it needs to further develop its nuclear weapons program to the level of testing a bomb. Translations of these reports were first published by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) in June.
These reports, which were prepared by the German, Dutch, and Swedish intelligence organizations, pertain to activities carried out by Iran in 2022.
Some of the data gathered by the Netherlands General and Intelligence Security Service (AVID) suggests that Iran is closer to being able to test its first nuclear bomb given its increasing stockpile of 20 and 60 percent enriched uranium, which could be further enriched to 90 percent, which is required for building a bomb, and deployed more sophisticated centrifuges.
"The AIVD and MIVD [Military Intelligence] succeeded a number of times in preventing Russia and Iran from acquiring Dutch knowledge or technology for their nuclear weapons programs," AVID said in its report.
"The Swedish Security Service can confirm that Iran is conducting security-threatening activities in Sweden and against Swedish interests," Adam Samara, a spokesperson for the Swedish Security Service, told Fox News Digital in an email.
"Examples of these activities are industrial espionage targeting Swedish high-tech industries and unlawful intelligence gathering targeting Swedish higher education institutions. Iran seeks Swedish technology and knowledge that can be used in their nuclear weapons program," he said.
