Iran Not Getting The Bomb Any Time Soon – Military Intelligence Head

• Iran Not Getting The Bomb Any Time Soon – Military Intelligence Head
  by ANNA AHRONHEIM, https://www.jpost.com/
  According to Maj.-Gen. Tamir Hayman, the Islamic Republic has a long way to go before it can threaten Israel.
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  Despite enriching uranium at a level not seen before, Iran still has a long way to go before acquiring a nuclear bomb, according to Israel’s Military Intelligence head Maj.-Gen. Tamir Hayman. 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.
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  “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.
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  “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.
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  “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.”
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  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.
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  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.
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  “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.
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• Israel Has 80-90 Nukes, SIPRI Report Says, as Tel Aviv Continues to Accuse Iran of Nuclear Obsession
  by https://www.rt.com/
  Israel, which routinely accuses Iran of trying to obtain nuclear weapons and pledges to use force to stop Tehran, maintains its own undeclared nuclear arsenal estimated at 80 to 90, according to the latest report by SIPRI.
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  There are nine nations in the world that currently have nuclear weapons, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) says in its newly released yearbook on the state of armaments and international security. The world nuclear stockpile went from 14,465 at the beginning of last year to about 13,865 this year, the report estimates, as the US and Russia were delivering on their promises under the New START Treaty signed in 2010.
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  Israel, which maintains a policy of neither confirming nor denying the possession of nuclear weapons, has between 80 and 90 warheads in its stockpile, the same as the year before, the institute said.
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  It comes as tensions between Iran on one side, and the US and regional ally Israel on the other, continue to mount. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s unsinkable prime minister, has for years waged a campaign accusing the Iranians of having unwavering nuclear ambitions, regardless of the evidence, or lack thereof.
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“Iran doesn’t frighten me and I don’t think it should frighten the American people. They don’t have a bomb. They haven’t made a decision to build one. They don’t have the means to deliver one. And the Israelis have 300 atomic bombs! I mean who presents the existential threat to whom?” – Pat Buchanan (7:58 onwards)

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