France Warns: Iran Close to Developing Nuclear Weapons

France raises alarm over Iran’s nuclear activities, stating that the country is nearing the capability to produce nuclear weapons, escalating global tensions.

Nicolas Lerner, the head of the French Foreign Intelligence Service, has claimed that Iran might be able to develop a nuclear weapon in just a few months.

Lerner expressed his views on Friday during a press briefing in Paris, where he was joined by Richard Moore, the head of the British Secret Intelligence Service. He identified Tehran’s nuclear program as one of the most significant concerns for both Paris and London.

He stated, as reported by Reuters, “Our services are collaborating closely to address what is surely one of the threats—if not the most critical threat—in the coming months: potential nuclear proliferation in Iran.”

Reflecting similar concerns, Moore asserted that Iran’s “nuclear ambitions continue to pose a threat to everyone.”

Iran’s uranium enrichment activities have long been perceived by Western countries as an undercover attempt to develop nuclear weapons. Worries intensified after the United States unilaterally exited the Iran nuclear deal in 2018. Under this agreement, signed three years prior, Tehran committed to limiting its nuclear program in return for partial relief from sanctions.

Then-U.S. President Donald Trump contended that the agreement was ineffective in halting Iran’s nuclear program, and subsequent diplomatic attempts to revive the deal over the following years did not achieve any significant progress.

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Iran asserts that its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes and denies any intention to develop a weapon. However, following the collapse of the agreement, Tehran has reportedly raised uranium enrichment levels to 60%, as stated by the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). For use in a nuclear bomb, enrichment must exceed 90%.

This week, the watchdog also announced that Iran would start enriching uranium with thousands of advanced centrifuges.

Earlier in the month, Kamal Kharrazi, a high-ranking advisor to Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, stated that Tehran possesses “the technical capabilities necessary to produce nuclear weapons.”

He emphasized that although the country currently has no intentions of pursuing such actions, “we reserve the right to reconsider if Iran’s survival faces a serious threat.”

The United States has expressed significant concerns regarding Iran’s nuclear program. In July, Secretary of State Antony Blinken indicated that it might take Iran “probably one or two weeks” to generate sufficient weapons-grade material for a nuclear bomb.

Tensions are elevated in the Middle East, as Iran and Israel remain at odds over the conflict in Gaza.