Head of Military Intelligence: Iran not getting the bomb any time soon

• Published date: 02 October 2021
• Author: ANNA AHRONHEIM
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

According to Hayman, while the levels of enriched uranium are "disturbing," the Islamic Republic still has a long way to go before acquiring a functioning nuclear bomb that can threaten Israel.

"There is an enriched amount [of uranium] in volumes that we have not seen before and it is disturbing. At the same time, in all other aspects of the Iranian nuclear project, we see no progress," Hayman said in an interview with Walla News.

cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });

>

"Not in the weapons project, in the financial area, not in any other sector. Therefore the period of time that still remains of two years has not changed. Because even from the moment you have a breakout, there is still a long way to go before a bomb," he said.

"To the best of our knowledge, the directive has not changed and they are not heading toward a breakout. They are not heading toward a bomb right now: It may be in the distant future."

The Iranians face three choices, he said: a return to the previous 2015 nuclear deal, break out and go for "unprecedented defiance" including in weapons and continued enrichment or go for an improved agreement where they will achieve far more than they have in the past. Tehran will likely try to exhaust long negotiations with the West while continuing to enrich.

Hayman said that while the "right thing to do" is to act on the side of diplomacy vis-a-vis Iran and its nuclear program, there must be a practical, reliable military option along with the economic and diplomatic tools.

"Let's just agree with the fact that the right thing to do is to take Iran in the direction we want on the side of diplomacy: an attempt at a better agreement," he said.

Iran has always denied seeking nuclear weapons but it is believed that it is continuing to develop the capabilities to produce such an arsenal, as well as ballistic missiles capable of carrying nuclear warheads.

In turn, Israel's military has asked for a major budget increase so that it can strengthen its attack capabilities should it need to attack Iran's nuclear program.

ISRAEL HAS also warned repeatedly about Iran's aspirations of regional hegemony and has carried out hundreds of airstrikes as part of its "war-between-wars" campaign to prevent the transfer of advanced weapons to Hezbollah in Lebanon and the entrenchment of its forces in Syria where they could easily act against the Jewish state.

According to...