Gabbard: Iran Might Be Weeks Away from Nuclear Weapon Production

Tulsi Gabbard now says Iran could develop nuclear weapons “within weeks,” marking a shift from her earlier stance before Congress, where she stated the country was not actively pursuing such weapons.

Back in March, Gabbard told lawmakers that although Iran had accumulated nuclear materials, there was no indication it was building a bomb. The U.S. Director of National Intelligence later claimed her remarks were misrepresented by “dishonest media outlets.”

Gabbard’s revised position follows criticism from Donald Trump, who insisted she was “wrong” and cited intelligence assessments indicating Iran possessed “a tremendous amount of material” and could potentially assemble a nuclear weapon “within months.”

Iran, for its part, continues to maintain that its nuclear program is solely for peaceful purposes and that it has never aimed to develop nuclear arms.

Speaking Thursday, Trump gave Tehran a maximum of two weeks to strike a nuclear deal with Washington. He also signaled that a decision was forthcoming on whether the U.S. would participate in Israel’s military actions against Iran.

Disagreement has been building within Trump’s “America First” movement over whether the US should enter the conflict.

On Saturday morning, Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said his country was “absolutely ready for a negotiated solution” on their nuclear programme but that Iran “cannot go through negotiations with the US when our people are under bombardment”.
In her post on social media, Gabbard said US intelligence showed Iran is “at the point that it can produce a nuclear weapon within weeks to months”.

“President Trump has been clear that can’t happen, and I agree,” she added.

Gabbard shared a video of her full testimony before Congress in March, where she said US intelligence agencies had concluded Iran was not building nuclear weapons.

Experts also determined Iran had not resumed its suspended 2003 nuclear weapons programme, she added in the clip, even as the nation’s stockpile of enriched uranium – a component of such weapons – was at an all-time high.

In her testimony, she said Iran’s stock was “unprecedented for a state without nuclear weapons”.

Earlier this month, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) – the global nuclear watchdog – expressed concern about Iran’s stockpile of enriched uranium, which can be used to make reactor fuel but also nuclear weapons.

Gabbard’s March testimony has been previously criticised by Trump, who earlier told reporters he did not “care what she said”.

The US president said he believes Iran were “very close to having a weapon” and his country would not allow that to happen.
In 2015, Iran agreed a long-term deal on its nuclear programme with a group of world powers after years of tension over the country’s alleged efforts to develop a nuclear weapon.

Iran had been engaging in talks with the US this year over its nuclear programme and was scheduled to hold a further round when Israel launched strikes on Iran on 13 June, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said targeted “the heart” of Iran’s nuclear programme.

“If not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time,” Netanyahu claimed.

Israeli air strikes have destroyed Iranian military facilities and weapons, and killed senior military commanders and nuclear scientists.

Iran’s health ministry said on Saturday that at least 430 people had been killed, while a human rights group, the Human Rights Activists News Agency, put the unofficial death toll at 657 on Friday.

Iran has retaliated with missile and drone strikes against Israel, killing 25 people including one who suffered a heart attack.