In Iran, Talk of Whether to Build a Nuclear Bomb Bursts Into the Open
Iran’s top officials still say the country will forgo nuclear weapons, but they are warning that could change
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian told world leaders at the United Nations this week that Iran would neither shelve its nuclear program nor build nuclear weapons, repeating Tehran’s usual refrain. Back home however, there is a growing public debate about whether Tehran should aim to get the bomb.
Large parts of Iran’s nuclear program remain severely damaged after last year’s U.S. and Israeli attacks. Before those strikes, experts and officials believed Iran could build a nuclear weapon within months. It had highly enriched uranium, technical know-how and other required facilities.
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