Iran has not made the political decision to build a nuclear bomb but would likely do so if the United States attacked the Fordow fuel enrichment plant or eliminated Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, The New York Times reported Thursday.
The Times' report, citing anonymous U.S. intelligence officials, is not supported by CIA Director John Ratcliffe, who privately warned that Iran is dangerously close to building nuclear weapons and not deliberating about it. Ratcliffe said that claiming Iran isn't close to a bomb would be similar to saying football players who have fought their way to the 1-yard line don't want to score a touchdown, according to CBS News.
The White House said Thursday that it would take Iran "a couple of weeks to complete the production of that weapon."
And two weeks is the time frame that President Donald Trump is taking to decide whether to involve the U.S. military in dropping a bunker-busting bomb on Fordow near Qom, the nuclear site nestled roughly 300 feet below ground level. Israel does not have bombs that could neutralize the subterranean nuclear site.
The Times' report is also not supported by Israel, which launched an offensive one week ago based on intelligence that Tehran had amassed enough highly enriched uranium for nine bombs.
"All they had to do was weaponize them. We stopped that by attacking their nuclear scientists," Netanyahu said Sunday.
And Israel hasn't stopped.
"We control the skies over Tehran. We are striking with tremendous force at the Ayatollah regime. We are hitting the nuclear program, the missiles, the headquarters, the symbols of power," Netanyahu said in a video address on Wednesday.
Mark Swanson ✉
Mark Swanson, a Newsmax writer and editor, has nearly three decades of experience covering news, culture and politics.