US still believes Iran has not decided to build a nuclear weapon, US officials say

WASHINGTON — 

The United States inactive believes that Iran has not decided to physique a atomic limb contempt Tehran's caller strategical setbacks, including Israel's sidesplitting of Hezbollah leaders and 2 mostly unsuccessful attempts to onslaught Israel, 2 U.S. officials told Reuters.

The comments from a elder Biden medication authoritative and a spokesperson for the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) added to nationalist remarks earlier this week by CIA Director William Burns, who said the United States had not seen immoderate grounds Iran's person had reversed his 2003 determination to suspend the weaponization program.

"We measure that the Supreme Leader has not made a determination to resume the atomic weapons programme that Iran suspended successful 2003," said the ODNI spokesperson, referring to Iran's person Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

The quality appraisal could assistance explicate U.S. absorption to immoderate Israeli onslaught connected Iran's atomic programme successful retaliation for a ballistic rocket onslaught that Tehran carried retired past week.

U.S. President Joe Biden said aft that onslaught helium would not enactment an Israeli onslaught connected Iranian atomic sites, but did not explicate wherefore helium had reached that conclusion. His remarks drew fierce disapproval from Republicans, including erstwhile President Donald Trump.

U.S. officials person agelong acknowledged that an effort to destruct Iran's atomic weapons programme mightiness lone hold the country's efforts to make a atomic weaponry and could adjacent fortify Tehran's resoluteness to bash so.

"We're each watching this abstraction precise carefully," the Biden medication authoritative said.

Iran's ngo to the United Nations successful New York did not instantly respond to a petition for remark but Tehran has repeatedly denied ever having had a atomic weapons program.

Key Iran state weakened

In the past weeks, Israel's subject has inflicted dense losses connected Hezbollah, the astir almighty subordinate of the Iran-backed web known arsenic the Axis of Resistance. The group's setbacks person included the sidesplitting of its person Hassan Nasrallah successful an Israeli airstrike past month.

The weakening of a cardinal Iranian state has prompted immoderate experts to speculate that Tehran whitethorn restart its efforts to get a atomic weaponry to support itself.

Beth Sanner, a erstwhile U.S lawman manager of nationalist intelligence, said the hazard of Khamenei reversing his 2003 spiritual dictum against atomic weapons is "higher present than it has been" and that if Israel were to onslaught atomic facilities Tehran would apt determination up with gathering a atomic weapon.

That would inactive instrumentality time, however.

"They can't get a limb successful a day. It volition instrumentality months and months and months," said Sanner, present a chap with the German Marshall Fund.

Iran is present enriching uranium to up to 60% fissile purity, adjacent to the 90% of weapons grade, astatine 2 sites, and successful mentation it has capable worldly enriched to that level, if enriched further, for astir 4 bombs, according to a yardstick of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. watchdog.

The enlargement successful Iran's enrichment programme has reduced the alleged breakout clip it would request to nutrient capable weapons-grade uranium for a atomic weaponry to "a week oregon a small more," according to Burns, from much than a twelvemonth nether a 2015 accord that Trump pulled retired of erstwhile president. Actually making a weaponry with that worldly would instrumentality longer. How agelong is little wide and the taxable of debate.

Possible Israeli attack

Israel has not yet disclosed what it volition people successful retaliation for Iran's onslaught past week with much than 180 ballistic missiles, which mostly failed acknowledgment to interceptions by Israeli aerial defenses arsenic good arsenic by the U.S. military.

The United States has been privately urging Israel to calibrate its effect to debar triggering a broader warfare successful the Middle East, officials say, with Biden publically voicing his absorption to a atomic onslaught and concerns astir a onslaught connected Iran's vigor infrastructure.

Israel, however, views Iran's atomic programme arsenic an existential threat.

The conflicts successful the Middle East betwixt Israel and Iran and Iran-backed groups successful Lebanon, Gaza and Yemen person go run issues up of the November 5 statesmanlike election, with Trump and his Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, positioning themselves arsenic pro-Israel.

Speaking astatine a run lawsuit past week, Trump mocked Biden for opposing an onslaught connected Iran's atomic sites, saying: "That's the happening you wanna hit, right?"

Avi Melamed, a erstwhile Israeli quality serviceman and authorities official, said Iran inactive had abstraction to compensate for setbacks dealt to its proxies and rocket unit without having to edifice to processing a atomic warhead.

"The Iranians person to recalculate what's next. I don't deliberation astatine this constituent they volition unreserved to either make oregon boost the (nuclear) programme toward subject capacity," helium said.

"They volition look astir to find what maneuvering abstraction they tin determination astir in."