Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant assured that Iran has enough enriched uranium to manufacture five nuclear weapons. The statement came in the framework of his visit to Greece, where he said that this is bad news for the Middle East due to the geopolitical impact on the region, something that Benjamin Netanyahu also explained recently.
According to Gallant's statements, Iran's nuclear ambitions would not be appeased with a single bomb. Indeed, he clarified that "it has already accumulated enough enriched uranium at the 20% and 60% levels for five nuclear bombs."
“If Iran enriches to the 90% weaponized level, it would be a great error and the price would be heavy, and there would be consequences which could inflame the Middle East," he added. The Biden administration promised early on to resume talks on a nuclear deal with Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei, something that has yet to happen.
According to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, geopolitics as such would change if Iran were to succeed. "To have Iran being able to threaten every city in the United States with nuclear blackmail is a changing of history. Iran is 50 North Koreas. It is not merely a neighborhood bully like the dynasty that rules North Korea," he said in a meeting with U.S. lawmakers from both parties.
"This is an ideological force that sees us, Israel, as the small Satan and sees you as the Great Satan," added "Bibi."
Jake Sullivan, national security advisor to President Biden, addressed the issue and emphasized the need to take the necessary steps to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. "It is a genuine danger to regional security and to global security, and, indeed, to the United States of America. And we are going to continue to take action to, yes, deter Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, and then to seek a diplomatic solution that puts this on a long-term pathway of stability," the official added.
How do you make a nuclear bomb?
The step-by-step procedure is as follows. First, you have to get uranium, but not just any uranium. The one found in nature contains only 0.7% of uranium-235 (U-235), which is enough to generate the chain reaction that causes a nuclear-type explosion, while the remaining 99.3% is uranium-238 (U-238). Scientists split the two isotopes and concentrate on U-235, which they enrich to increase their energy production, whether for energy, medical or weapons purposes.
To make a nuclear weapon, scientists must enrich the uranium to 90%. However, the key floor is 20%. As explained by the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation, "enriching uranium to 20 % represents about 90 % of the effort needed to produce weapons-grade fissile material." "Once a proliferator reaches this threshold, it could be ready to weaponize in a relatively short time."
