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Source: https://nationalinterest.org/feature/us-must-re-focus-curbing-iran%E2%80%99s-nuclear-program-209298
The U.S. Must Re-Focus on Curbing Iran's Nuclear Program
(National Interest) Lawrence J. Haas - Iran's latest nuclear and ballistic missile advances make Israel's war with Hamas and America's skirmishing with Iranian proxy forces look like regional sideshows of a far more ominous main event. The current situation in the region gives Iran "a unique opportunity and amplified internal justification for building nuclear weapons while the United States and Israel's resources to detect and deter Iran from succeeding are stretched thin," the Institute for Science and International Security wrote in a new report. With a large stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% purity, the institute estimated that the regime could further enrich enough uranium to weapons-grade purity with the ability to produce a nuclear bomb in a week. Tehran also continues to advance its ballistic missiles, which could carry nuclear warheads to strike U.S. allies and possibly even the U.S. itself. In January, the Islamic Republic launched a satellite into space using technologies with "significant overlap" with those of longer-range ballistic missiles. Iran could be on the cusp of destabilizing the region and upending the global order in a fundamental way. Therefore, Washington and its allies must focus on the bigger picture and develop a comprehensive plan to confront Iran over its nuclear-related pursuits, using every means at their disposal to ensure that Iran will never develop or acquire nuclear weaponry. The writer is a senior fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council.