CENTCOM warned Iran was 'mere steps' from nuclear weapons before IDF strikes began

from Jerusalem Post

CENTCOM Commander Gen. Erik Kurilla warned on June 10 that Iran was "mere steps" from reaching weapons-grade uranium as defined by the IAEA in a post that was reposted by the official White House X account "Rapid Response 47" on Tuesday. 

The IAEA considered weapons-grade uranium to be 90% enrichment, while the IAEA estimated that Iran had reached 400 kg. of 60% enrichment, double what it was six months ago.

"This is mere steps from reaching the 90% threshold for weaponization," Kurilla's post said.

The same post stated that if Iran had "sprinted" to enrich uranium, it could produce a single weapon within a week and 10 within three weeks.

Notably, "sprinting" to produce a weapon includes some steps that Iran hadn't yet achieved. Some of these steps include detonating a nuclear explosion or being able to place a nuclear warhead on ballistic missiles. Different estimates say that with these steps in mind, Iran was closer to being seven months to one year away from making a weapon. 

The official X account reposted this message after CNN reported that the US intelligence claimed Iran was actually three years away.

The CNN report published Tuesday followed four days of Israeli strikes across Iran.

The report indicated that intelligence officials disagreed on the speed at which Iran could actually enrich uranium...

read more here