Iran has steadily increased its ability to produce a nuclear weapon since 2018 when the United States withdrew from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Khal said Tuesday. Photo by Abedin Taherkenareh/EPA-EFE
Feb. 28 (UPI) -- Iran's ability to produce enough material for an atomic bomb has gone from a year to less than two weeks, a top pentagon official said Tuesday, warning about the "remarkable" progress the Middle Eastern nation's nuclear program has made since the Trump administration's withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.
"Iran's nuclear progress since we left the JCPOA has been remarkable," Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Khal told lawmakers Tuesday during a hearing on Ukraine.
"Back in 2018, when the previous administration decided to leave the JCPOA, it would have taken Iran about 12 months to produce one bomb's worth of fissile material. Now, it would take about 12 days."
The landmark, Obama-era JCPOA was a multination pact aimed at preventing Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon, but Tehran has repeatedly increased uranium enrichment since then-President Donald Trump unilaterally pulled the United States out of the agreement and slapped sanctions against Iran.
Last week, the International Atomic Energy Agency announced it was "discussing with Iran the results of recent Agency verification activities" after Bloomberg reported the United Nations' nuclear watchdog was trying to clarify how Tehran had accumulated 84% uranium enrichment.
According to the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, weapon-grade uranium is commonly considered to have enriched at about 90%.
The Biden administration has sought to return Iran to the negotiating table on a new deal, with Khal's remarks coming in response to a question from Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., who grilled the Pentagon official as to why the current administration was "hellbent" on returning to the JCPOA.
"I think there is still the view that if you can resolve this issue diplomatically and put constraints back on their nuclear program, it is better than the other options," Khal said.
Biden administration officials have said that resumption of the JCPOA is essentially off the table for the time being, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken telling reporters in January that "the Iranians killed the opportunity to come back to that agreement swiftly many months ago."
Khal said there had been a deal tabled with Iran in the summer, which Tehran didn't agree to. Its recent behavior, including supplying arms to Russia -- one of the JCPOA parties-- in its war in Ukraine, pushes the possibility of resuming the JCPOA even further away, he said.
"I don't think we're on the precipice of re-entering the JCPOA," he said. "The JCPOA is not on the horizon in the near term."
While the Biden administration continues to push for a diplomatic solution, officials have said that the United States will prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon -- a statement Khal reiterated Tuesday.
"The administration position remains that a diplomatic deal to put constraints around Iran's program remains the best alternative to prevent Iran from getting a nuclear weapon," he said. "But the president has also made clear that his policy is that Iran will not get a nuclear weapon. Period. And if a diplomatic outcome is not possible, we have other options to deal with that problem."
