The US president’s own intelligence chief and the IAEA don’t think Iran is building nuclear weapons at all, but the US and UN are concerned by its rapidly increasing enrichment levels.
Returning early from the Group of Seven summit in Canada early on Tuesday, United States President Donald Trump told reporters he believed Iran was “very close” to building nuclear weapons.
His comments were in keeping with increasingly threatening social media posts and language from Trump against Iran in recent days during Israel’s escalating conflict with its longtime Middle Eastern rival.
Since Friday, Israel has bombed Iran’s top nuclear facilities and has killed at least 14 Iranian nuclear scientists. Israel’s armed forces said the scientists “were key factors in the development of Iranian nuclear weapons” and “their elimination is a significant blow to the regime’s ability to acquire weapons of mass destruction (WMDs).”
Iran insists that its nuclear programme is entirely peaceful and for civilian purposes. It points to Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s edict against nuclear weapons to back up its assertion.
