US intelligence assessment says Iran not developing nuclear bombs

“Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons-development activities that would be necessary to produce a testable nuclear device,” reads the two-page unclassified synopsis of a report released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Monday.

Tehran has repeatedly declared that its nuclear program remains purely peaceful as always and that the Islamic Republic had no intention of developing nuclear weapons as a matter of an Islamic and state principal.

Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei issued an official fatwa (religious decree) clearly establishing that any form of acquisition, development, and use of nuclear weapons violate Islamic principles and are therefore forbidden.

Iran proved the peaceful nature of its nuclear program to the world by signing the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) with six world powers, but Washington later quit it.

The assessment added, “Iran continues to increase the … enrichment level of its uranium stockpile beyond JCPOA limits.”

Former US President Donald Trump pulled the US out of the JCPOA and imposed tough economic sanctions against the Islamic Republic under what he called the “maximum pressure” policy.

In 2019, Iran began its retaliatory remedial measures by reducing its commitments to the 2015 deal after the European parties to the deal — France, Germany, and Britain — failed to protect Iran’s interests under the JCPOA.

Tehran began to gradually remove a cap set in the JCPOA on its nuclear activities at bi-monthly intervals. Tehran maintained that it would reverse its nuclear decision if the Iranian economy were to be shielded from sanctions.

Multilateral diplomatic efforts to revive the JCPOA have been stalled since last August, with Iran blaming the United States for failing to guarantee that it will not leave the deal again.