(Tablet) Former IAEA inspector David Albright interviewed by Armin Rosen - David Albright, founder and president of the Institute for Science and International Security (ISIS), on Monday gave an update on Israel's progress against the Iranian bomb. Iran's nuclear program has "been set back significantly," but if the Fordow facility "continues to operate, they can break out and make weapon-grade uranium very quickly. I think on the weaponization side, the time to make the bomb has probably been extended by several months." "It would be very dangerous for Israel to stop right now. Iran has a big program. There are a lot of parts to it, and it just takes a significant amount of time to really set it back sufficiently to feel like the job is done." If Israel just walks away, "we're in a worse situation because Iran would certainly be incentivized to move toward the bomb." "It would still be very hard for Iran to move to build a bomb right now. In the long run Iran can replace the nuclear scientists killed this week, but in the short run they can't." "You also have this destruction at the Isfahan enriched uranium metal production line. So you have just a chunk taken out of the line of things that have to be done to make the weapon-grade uranium core component." "I think that Israel is deliberately trying to increase the time frame, I would say by at least a half a year or more, for Iran to be able to make even a non-missile-deliverable nuclear weapon, while also making Iran more scared to start that process." Q: Can Israel disable Fordow without the use of large bunker-busters? Albright: "They could take out the electricity. They could destroy the ventilation system. They can easily destroy the pedestrian entrance. They can destroy the main entrances. There's two, and they can even use more powerful armaments to work their way back to the tunnel entrances."
2025-06-18 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive