Connect with us

World

Iran could declare it has nuclear weapons by end of year, House Intelligence chair says

Published

4 weeks ago

on

Iran could declare it has nuclear weapons by end of year, House Intelligence chair says

play

WASHINGTON – Iran could declare that it has nuclear weapons “by the end of the year,” House Intelligence Committee Chair Rep. Mike Turner, R-Ohio, said during an interview Sunday in which he blasted President Joe Biden for failing to deter the U.S. adversary from advancing its program.  

“There is a possibility, with the advances that have been made under the Biden administration’s policy … that Iran could declare itself a nuclear weapon state by the end of the year,” Turner said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation.”  

Nuclear weapon states are countries recognized as possessing nuclear weapons. Iran has denied having a nuclear weapons program, but its Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said that world leaders wouldn’t be able to stop the country from obtaining one if it wanted to.  

More: Iran ‘one or two weeks’ from being able to create nuclear materials, Blinken says

 When asked whether Khamenei’s comments had “changed his conclusion” on Iran’s nuclear capability, Turner said “No.” 

The Ohio Republican’s comments come days after former President Donald Trump said during a campaign rally that, if elected a second time, he is “not looking to be bad to Iran,” but would “make sure that they don’t have a nuclear weapon.”  

As president, Trump exited the Iran nuclear deal, a multi-national agreement to slow Iran’s nuclear program negotiated during the Obama administration, and argued that it would allow the Middle Eastern country to garner weapons.  

Turner argued Sunday that Trump put the most pressure on Iran pf any administration, “both economically, militarily.”

More: Russia wants Trump back in White House. Iran doesn’t. Let the election hacking begin.

“They were they were on the ropes,” he said.  

“The flexibility and freedom that they’ve had under the Biden administration has given them the ability to both try to influence our elections, actively try to undertake a plot to assassinate Donald Trump, and to continue their nuclear weapons and their nuclear enrichment programs,” he added.  

The FBI is investigation allegations that Iranian cyber agents hacked Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaigns. U.S. intelligence agencies also tracking Iranian threats against Trump.  

Related Topics:
Continue Reading