The chairman of a high-ranking intelligence committee of the US Congress fears that Iran could declare itself a nuclear power “before the end of the year”.
Republican Rep. Mike Turner, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, raised that possibility in an interview on Sunday. He blamed President Joe Biden for pushing for progress on Iran’s nuclear capability, telling CBS News: Face the nation that the government’s policy had drawn “no red lines”.
In 2015, Iran signed a nuclear deal with several countries, including the United States, and agreed to limit its nuclear program in return for a lifting of previously imposed sanctions. But President Donald Trump withdrew the United States from the deal in 2018, saying it was ineffective, and Iran resumed work on its nuclear program the following year. Both Tehran and Biden have said they want to return to the deal, but negotiations have stalled.
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During his interview with host Margaret Brennan, Turner also defended Trump’s recent claims at an event last week. The former president alarmed some of his critics when he told the crowd that he planned to be “friendly” with Iran if he won the election.
“I don’t want to be mean to Iran. I hope we will be friendly with Iran,” Trump said. “Maybe, maybe not… But they must not have nuclear weapons… and we have done everything we can to make sure they don’t have nuclear weapons, because once they do, the world is a very different place.”
When Brennan asked what he thought of Trump’s “mixed messages,” Turner said no, adding that Trump had been tough on Iran during his first term.
Brennan pointed out that Iran had “restarted” its nuclear program under Trump, but Turner insisted that the blame lies with the Biden administration.
“What we are seeing now with this administration is that they (Iran) could declare themselves a nuclear weapons state by the end of this year… There have been news reports suggesting that this is a possibility,” Turner said, adding that this is due to “the progress that has been made under the Biden administration’s policies.”
Newsweek emailed both the White House and the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran, asking for more information and comment on Turner’s statement that Iran could be a nuclear power by the end of the year.
To Face the nationTurner also said that recent reports suggesting Iran was involved in hacking, disinformation and interference in the US election, as well as planning an assassination attempt on Trump, showed that Iran had been emboldened by Biden’s “failure to hold Iran accountable.”
Iran, for its part, has denied planning an assassination attempt on Trump, saying that “these allegations are baseless and malicious.” The country has also denied any hacking attacks on U.S. political candidates.
Nevertheless, the West is increasingly concerned about Iran’s largely uncontrolled nuclear program, especially since the destabilization of the Middle East caused by the war between Israel and Hamas is another aggravating factor.
In July, it was revealed that Iran is trying to source more uranium from West Africa. Experts fear that the country’s growing enriched stockpiles could be an indication that a weapons program is underway there.
With tensions rising between Israel and Iran over an exchange of conventional weapons such as cruise missiles, there are fears that a full-scale war could break out in the region.
Israel has long refused to say whether it has nuclear weapons, but the International Institute for Strategic Studies believes the country has nuclear-capable missiles.
Although Iran does not possess nuclear weapons, officials say it has several nuclear facilities that may be used to develop such weapons. Tehran claims its nuclear program is for civilian use, but experts say the enriched uranium is far purer than required for commercial purposes and is therefore almost weapons-grade.
