Iran has resumed work on its nuclear program after President Donald Trump withdrew from the Obama-era nuclear deal in 2018.
Negotiations in Vienna to restore the pact are stalled, and Western authorities suspect that Iran has come to the conclusion that it will receive the maximum lever to lift sanctions once the program is completed.
The Telegraph understands that Israel has asked Britain to consider a “tripwire” mechanism to further deter Iran from receiving the bomb. This would hit Iran with greater sanctions if it continues on the path to nuclear weapons or, in the event of a nuclear deal, if it resumes the program at a later stage.
The Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom reported that Iran already has enough fissile material to make nuclear bombs, citing anonymous sources from the Israeli government. However, a source familiar with Iran’s nuclear program said it was probably an exaggeration.
Mr Bennett told The Telegraph that the world must face Iran over its nuclear weapons program.
“Without pressure from the West, the Islamic regime in Iran could acquire a nuclear bomb very soon. The world must take a firm stand and tell the Islamic regime in Iran: no nuclear weapons, no sanctions. “Iran’s nuclear program will not stop until it stops,” he said.
Western diplomats are already beginning to give up hope of reviving the nuclear deal with Iran as they acknowledge that the regime is secretly building a nuclear bomb, Israeli officials say.
Government sources say the West seems to be approaching a turning point where it no longer trusts Iran’s claim that it is developing an energy peace program.
This week, the UN nuclear agency said Tehran was not cooperating in investigations into its nuclear program.
Iranian officials have turned off at least two surveillance cameras used by the IAEA to monitor nuclear facilities in what appeared to be preventive retaliation for the IAEA warning.
How the nuclear deal unfolded
In 2015, Iran signed a nuclear agreement with world powers limiting uranium enrichment and nuclear stockpiles so that it would not accumulate enough material for nuclear weapons by 2030.
The slow collapse of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action – as the nuclear deal is known – has heightened tensions between staunch supporters of Iran and the United States and their regional allies.
Donald Trump has dropped the deal and announced a new campaign of “maximum pressure” on sanctions aimed at crippling Iran’s economy and forcing it to negotiate a tighter deal.
But instead of facing a heel, Iran responded by gradually withdrawing from its 2015 agreement.
In stages, Tehran has resumed uranium enrichment, resumed research and development of modern centrifuges, and drastically increased its nuclear fuel reserves. Estimates of Iran’s “breakthrough time” – the length of time it takes to accumulate enough nuclear material to build a nuclear bomb – have waned from months to weeks.
Iran still insists that its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes and there is no publicly available evidence to suggest that it is in fact preparing to transform its stockpile of enriched nuclear fuel into nuclear weapons.
But worried Israel has always said it will not wait until it is too late to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons. In the last few years, a series of mysterious killings and sabotage incidents at Iranian nuclear facilities have been a hallmark of Mossad operations.
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