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Is Iran Using Pandemic to Race toward Nuclear Weapons?


(Israel Hayom) Yoav Limor - Israeli intelligence officials believe the numbers of dead and infected in Iran are four or five times higher than the official reports, but it isn't clear if the gap stems from intentional efforts on the part of the regime to conceal the true picture, or from the general disarray in the country and the fact that quite a few regime officials are among the dead and sick. Israeli officials are concerned that Iran will exploit the fact that the world's attention is entirely focused on the coronavirus to secretly push forward its nuclear program. Iran has already said it no longer considers itself obligated to the nuclear deal and has reverted to enriching uranium. Israeli intelligence officials said in January that if Iran continues at its current pace, within a few months Tehran could amass enough enriched uranium for its first nuclear bomb, and that it will be able to finish the bomb-making process in late 2021. The fear now is that Iran will accelerate these processes. Due to the coronavirus crisis, international monitors from the IAEA have stopped oversight activities in Iran's nuclear facilities almost completely.
2020-04-02 00:00:00
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