Tel Aviv. Iran is preparing the background for its demand from US President-elect Joe Biden to ease the sanctions or “we close the short gap to nuclear weapons,” an official source said.
Recently, a senior Iranian official declared that Iran has all the tools to enrich its uranium to 90 per cent, which means that only the Supreme Leader’s decision to end the race for a nuclear bomb stands between fulfilling Ayatollah’s dream of getting a nuclear bomb to actually guarantee his survival.
In another statement an Iranian lawmaker said, “Iran will expel UN nuclear watchdog inspectors” unless the sanctions are lifted by February 21, as set out in February last year by the Iranian parliament, which is controlled by the supporters of the rigid line.”
“By law if the Americans do not stop the financial, banking and oil sanctions by February 21, we are definitely going to expel IAEA inspectors from the country and we will definitely end the voluntary implementation of the additional protocol,” said MP Ahmad Amirabadi Farahani.
In Israel there is a growing concern that the Biden administration will try to achieve a new agreement with Iran “this will allow Tehran to complete its effort to get to the threshold of a nuclear bomb. They hope that US under Biden will follow the European line – accepting the Iranian declarations which we know are a big lie.”
According to the Jerusalem center for public affairs, Iran has begun enriching uranium to a 20 per cent level, further blatantly violating its obligations under the nuclear deal, but emphasizing that everything is reversible and that it is ready to meet its obligations if the United States returns to the agreement and removes sanctions.
The Iranian move is designed to achieve a number of goals. First, shortening ranges to achieve a sufficient amount of enriched uranium to a high level of over 90 per cent for the production of a nuclear explosive device.
Today, Iran has a 4.5 per cent enriched material that, if enriched further, will suffice for more than two nuclear explosives facilities. The time it takes for Iran to get the amount of uranium needed for one facility is about two months, but if the enrichment to 20 per cent is done only by the thousand centrifuges operating in the deep underground facility in Purdue, it will take longer.
According to the center’s report, the Iranians have recently installed advanced centrifuges at the Natanz underground facility, and if enrichment to 20 per cent is also carried out there, the time needed to accumulate the material will be shortened.
The center’s paper says that the policy of “maximum pressure” on Iran, adopted by the Trump administration, has failed and has not been able to stop Iran from advancing to the bomb.
-The writer is an Israel-based freelance journalist
