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Iran ‘one or two weeks’ away from producing ‘fissile material for a nuclear weapon’, says Blinken

July 20, 2024 | | Print Article

A predictable outcome garnered an even more predictable defense from Secretary of State Antony Blinken as he disclosed how close Iran was to producing material for a nuclear weapon and who he blamed.


(Video: U.S. Department of State)

At every turn, big talk about President Joe Biden’s foreign policy has proven not only laughable, but dangerous to the lives of Americans. Now, after the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan cost the lives of 13 servicemembers in addition to deadly drone strikes and multiple wars have carried on despite “deterrents,” Blinken said Friday that Iran was within “one or two weeks” from producing fissile material.

Speaking from the Aspen Security Forum during a Fireside Chat hosted by NPR’s Mary Louise Kelly, the secretary had been remarking on the recent election of Masoud Pezeshkian to be the president of Iran when she reminded, “Every time I’ve interviewed you as secretary, I have asked you the same question: Is U.S. policy still that Iran must not be allowed to get a nuclear weapon?”

“It is resolutely,” he offered as she continued, “Which is what you always answer. And then I always ask: So how are you going to stop them? How are you going to stop them?”

It was then that Blinken admitted to a degree that the Biden administration had already missed the mark in attempting to fully deter a nuclear Iran.

“Well, there are — by far, the preferable way to do it would be through diplomacy. Where we are now is not in a good place. Iran, because the nuclear agreement was thrown out,”he said, blaming moves made under former President Donald Trump, “instead of being at least a year away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material for a nuclear weapon, is now probably one or two weeks away from doing that. Now, they haven’t developed a weapon itself-”

“Just one or two weeks, that’s what-” tried Kelly as Blinken continued while downplaying the threat. “One or two weeks is probably what the realistic breakout time is. They are — they haven’t produced a weapon itself, but that’s something of course that we track very, very carefully. And you put those two things together — the fissile material, and explosive device — and you have a nuclear weapon.”

Earlier in the week, Iran’s acting Foreign Minister Ali Bagheri had claimed to CNN that his nation was committed to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, better known as the Iran Nuclear Deal, that had begun under then-President Barack Obama.

“We are still a member of JCPOA, America has not yet been able to return to the JCPOA, so the goal we are pursuing is the revival of the 2015 agreement,” he remarked. “We are not looking for a new agreement.”

In leading up to the admission, the State Department head had contended, “As you know, when this administration came in, we tried to pursue again nuclear diplomacy with Iran, because if you can at least take one problem off the board, which is Iran potentially with a nuclear weapon, that’s inherently a good thing.”

“We had, as you know well, an agreement reached during the Obama administration that actually put Iran’s nuclear program in a box. And one of the biggest mistakes that we’ve made in recent years was throwing out that agreement and allowing Iran to get out of the box that we put it in,” Blinken argued. “So we were testing the proposition about whether we could at least recreate something that looked like that…”

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Of course, few on social media were willing to let the secretary get away with shifting blame for the Islamists backing Hamas and Hezbollah’s terror being on the verge of nuclear capabilities after the current administration had denied fungibility of assets after unfreezing billions in assets for Iran in addition to pallets of cash being shipped there during Obama’s administration.

Among those decrying the latest development, syndicated radio host Mark Levin took to X Friday and asserted, “Iran is getting a nuke under Biden regime as I predicted, and Blinken is blaming Trump as I predicted. The Biden regime not only appeased Iran but funded Iran. Biden and Blinken are the worst EVER!”

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Kevin Haggerty
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