Amid potential Trump-Netanyahu cooperation, US intel warns of Iran's accelerated nuclear plans

As Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with President Donald Trump to discuss the Gaza ceasefire hostage deal, the situation with Lebanon, normalization with Saudi Arabia, and the Iranian threat, recent intelligence has led U.S. officials to believe the Iran regime is exploring a more rapid development of nuclear weapons. 

First reported in the New York Times, the intelligence indicates a secret team of scientists and engineers in Iran is working on a faster, and possibly more crude approach to developing nuclear weapons, if the regime decides that such a weapon is needed to counter a combined U.S.-Israeli threat. 

While the Iranian regime has signaled its willingness to negotiate with the Trump administration, U.S. intelligence officials say it (Iran) is simultaneously pursuing a rapid weapons development strategy as an additional deterrent to a possible U.S.-Israeli strike on nuclear facilities. 

The intelligence report detailed in the Times story was reportedly collected during the final months of the Biden administration and presented to Trump during the transition period. While officials currently believe that Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not yet made the decision to order the development of nuclear weapons, they assess that Iranian military officials want to be ready to implement such an order as quickly as possible. 

At the end of January, Iranian dissident group the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) released a report alleging that the Iranian regime is covertly developing nuclear warheads for ballistic missiles capable of reaching Europe. 

A representative from NCRI said that Iran’s weakened position, following Israeli victories against its proxies Hezbollah and Hamas, has not deterred the regime from pursuing nuclear weapons, but increased its resolve to obtain a deterrent to U.S. and Israeli force. 

Despite the apparent lack of an official decision by Khamenei, Iran has been increasing its uranium production over the past few years. The UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in November that Iran had sharply increased its stockpile of highly enriched uranium during the past year and a half of increased conflict between its proxies Hamas and Hezbollah with the Jewish State. 

Intelligence chiefs from both Britain and France warned the same month, that an Iranian nuclear program “threatens us all.”  

The agency reported that Iran has enriched its uranium stockpiles to 60%, which is far above the level needed for civilian use in nuclear power or medical imaging, but still short of the 85% needed to create a fissile warhead. 

According to U.S. assessments, Iran has enough material to quickly produce at least four atomic weapons within a matter of weeks, if the regime decides to pursue that option. In September, former Central Command head General Kenneth McKenzie told The Jerusalem Post that the Iranian military could decide to build nuclear weapons even without a direct order from Khamenei. He also warned that Iran’s ballistic missile program represents a significant threat, even if not equipped with nuclear warheads. 

In December, a report released from the Office of the United States Director of National Intelligence (DNI) revised the number of weapons Iran could make from four to over one dozen. 

According to the New York Times report, Iranian officials are concerned that Trump could green light a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities, combined with increased sanctions. 

In late December, Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi told a press conference in Beijing that “2025 will be an important year regarding Iran’s nuclear issue.” 

In January, Iranian officials notified UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi that the country planned to accelerate the enrichment of uranium above 60%.

Western officials noted that no country has ever enriched uranium beyond 60% without also producing nuclear weapons, a clear indication of Iranian intentions. 

President Trump has declined to say publicly whether he would approve a strike on Iranian nuclear facilities, citing strategic security concerns. 

Following the release of this latest intelligence report, the topic of Iran’s nuclear program will doubtless be a critical area of discussion in the meeting between Trump and Netanyahu on Tuesday.