Israel Exposes Iran's Nuclear Lies, and the Limits of U.S. Intelligence
Advocating for a pact in 2015, John Kerry said American agencies had "absolute knowledge" about the regime's past nuclear efforts. Oops.
The Bushehr reactor in Iran (shown in 2001).
Source: Spaceimaging.com/Getty Images
Since Iran and six world powers reached an agreement to pause Iran's enrichment of uranium and allow weapons inspectors into declared facilities, Israel's prime minister has argued the deal would give Iran a glide path to a nuclear weapon. On Monday he announced that he had proof.
If the West can verify the new Israeli intelligence that Iran had preserved its design and research work into a nuclear weapon, that's a big deal — particularly now in light of the May 12 deadline that President Donald Trump has imposed on U.S. negotiations with Europe to come up with fixes to strengthen the nuclear bargain. The trove of data would be a blow not only to Iran's credibility but also to the reputation of American intelligence gathering.