() There continues to be a key difference of opinion within the nation’s intelligence community about how close Iran is to building a nuclear bomb, intelligence sources tell .
Several top intelligence and military officials in the Trump administration believe Iran’s uranium stockpiles and abilities indicate it could build a bomb soon if its nuclear program is restarted.
CIA Director John Ratcliffe has said behind closed doors on several occasions Iran is close to building a device, a U.S. official with knowledge of the matter said.
There seems to be no debate within the Trump administration over the buildup of Iran’s uranium stockpiles.
Where the intelligence community splits is over the timeline how soon Iran could have a nuclear bomb.
This is a key issue as President Trump decides whether to launch a U.S. attack on Iran’s nuclear facilities.
One senior intelligence official told that Iran is enriching uranium to a level “totally unnecessary for civilian use,” using the word “unprecedented levels.”
They added it is “very concerning behavior from Iran” with respect to potentially inching closer to pursuing a nuclear weapon.
Another senior intelligence official tells , “There’s a difference between being very close and having a weapon.”
The official added it is different to achieve 90% uranium enrichment, which some experts said Iran is close to doing, and actually constructing a weapon.
Another key official who believes Iran is close is Gen. Erik Kurilla, head of the military Central Command, which oversees military activity in the Middle East.
He said last week that if the Iranian regime restarted its nuclear program, it could produce enough weapons-grade material “in roughly one week and enough for up to 10 nuclear weapons in three weeks.”
In his statement to the Senate Armed Services Committee, Kurilla cited the International Atomic Energy Agency: “The IAEA estimates current Iranian stockpiles to include over 400 kg of 60% enriched uranium – almost double of what it was just six months ago.”
The differences within the intelligence community are in the timeline it would take to construct a device.
“Iran has all that it needs to achieve a new nuclear weapon. All they need is a decision from the supreme leader to do that, and it would take a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday.
When pressed on whether it was U.S. intelligence or ally intelligence that President Trump is using to say Iran is “very close to a nuclear weapon,” Leavitt said, “It is a fact that the United States government maintains this fact that Iran has never been closer to obtaining a nuclear weapon.”
Also at play is how officials are taking into account the damage done to the Iranian program by the Israeli bombing. One assessment is that Tehran has been set back at least six months or perhaps up to a year, the intelligence official said. Other officials are not sure yet how much damage has been done to the program.
