Major warning as Iran 'just days away' from becoming nuclear weapon threat
The US pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal in 2018, three years after the agreement aimed at enforcing restrictions on Tehran's critical nuclear facilities was struck.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has warned "we are not in a good place" as Iran is feared to now have the ability to produce enough weapons-grade material for a nuclear weapon within two weeks.
This timespan is normally referred to as "breakout time" and is the shortest ever noticed by US officials.
In recent months, Iran has taken bold steps to boost its production of fissile material as tensions between the West and the so-called new "axis of power" - including North Korea, China and Russia alongside Tehran - continue to grow.
Mr Blinken said on Friday, as he appeared at the Aspen Security Forum: "Where we are now is not in a good place.
"Iran, because the nuclear agreement was thrown out, instead of being at least a year away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material for a nuclear weapon, is now probably one or two weeks away from doing that.
"They haven’t produced a weapon itself, but that’s something of course that we track very, very carefully."
US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, also at Aspen, said he has "not seen a decision by Iran to move" in the direction of building a nuclear bomb yet.
Also speaking in Aspen, Mr Sullivan said: "If they start moving down that road, they'll find a real problem with the United States."
The official added that since April, when Tehran launched its first direct attack on Israeli soil, the US noticed "an uptick of public commentary from Iranian officials musing about that possibility", which "got our attention".
Last year, a top US Defense Department official said Iran could produce "one bomb's worth of fissile material" in "about 12 days".
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In his warning, Mr Blinken was referring to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action - commonly known as the Iran Nuclear Deal - from which the Donald Trump administration pulled out in 2018.
Three years prior, the deal had been struck between Tehran and Washington as well as China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and Germany.
The deal placed significant restrictions on Iran’s nuclear programme in exchange for sanctions relief, and the Biden administration has engaged in talks with Iran over the past several months in a bid to revive it, but the two sides haven't yet found a common ground on their demands.
Iran has repeatedly claimed its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.
