Antony Blinken warned that if Iran continued with its atomic program, it could develop a nuclear bomb “within weeks”.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that Iran can currently develop a nuclear bomb in a matter of months, and if it continues to advance its atomic program, it will achieve the capacity to do so in a matter of weeks.

“It is still not clear if Iran is willing and ready to do what it takes to comply again,” Blinken told the US Congress on Monday, amid the complicated negotiations to bail out the nuclear pact signed by Tehran and several powers.

“In the meantime, your program is progressing at full speed. The more time passes, the shorter the downtime. Now it has been reduced, according to public reports, to a few months at best. And if this continues it will be a matter of weeks”.

Before the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs, Blinken said they were still looking for a way for Iran to resume its commitments from the original pact, signed in 2015.

Former US President Donald Trump withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, saying it did not prevent the Islamic Republic from building a nuclear weapon. Trump has tightened sanctions on Tehran and Iranian officials have responded by easing restrictions on its nuclear program imposed by the deal. His successor, Joe Biden, has said he will join the deal if Iran sticks to its end of the deal.

Complicated negotiations

It is “increasingly difficult” to consider a further extension of the temporary agreement with Iran on nuclear inspections, said on Monday the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi .

“I see that space is shrinking,” Grossi complained to the press on the first day of the quarterly meeting of the Board of Governors of this UN body.

Iran restricted inspectors’ access to parts in February, but the EIOA then came up with a “temporary solution” to ensure a necessary degree of vigilance.

At the end of May, the engagement was extended until June 24. By then, the great powers hope to save the 2015 international agreement – called JCPOA – aimed at preventing the Islamic Republic from acquiring atomic weapons.

(With information from AFP)

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