Construction work at Bushehr nuclear power plant, Iran, on November 10, 2019. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
Iran is seeking help from Russia to bolster its nuclear program, US intelligence officials believe, as Tehran seeks a backup plan if a lasting nuclear deal with world powers fails to materialize.
Intelligence suggests that Iran has asked Russia for help in acquiring additional nuclear materials and with the manufacture of nuclear fuel, sources briefed on the matter said. The fuel could help Iran power its nuclear reactors and could further shorten Iran’s so-called “breakthrough time” to create a nuclear weapon.
Experts stressed to CNN, however, that the risk of nuclear proliferation varies depending on the reactor for which the fuel is used. And it’s also unclear whether Russia has agreed to help: The Kremlin has long been outwardly opposed to Iran getting a nuclear weapon.
But the Iranian proposal comes amid an expanding partnership between Iran and Russia that in recent months has included sending drones and other equipment to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine, and Moscow potentially advising Tehran on how to crack down on protest movement sweeping Iran. , US officials said.
Iran has said its nuclear program is for peaceful purposes only and that it has formally halted its weapons program, but US officials have said Iran’s uranium enrichment activities have gone far beyond the parameters of the 2015 nuclear deal and that the amount of time it would take. for Iran to produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon has been shortened to just months.
In June, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned lawmakers that Iran’s “nuclear program is galloping forward… The longer time passes, the lower the downtime… now it’s down, according to public reports, to a few months. at best. And if this continues, it will be down to a matter of weeks.”
The Biden administration is watching with concern any new areas of cooperation between Iran and Russia. Any covert Russian assistance to Iran that could boost Iranian efforts to produce a nuclear weapon would also mark a significant shift in Russian policy, given Russia’s membership of the P5+1 group of countries that have been part of negotiations to curb Iran’s nuclear program.
“As we’ve said, the JCPOA is not on the agenda,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson told CNN, referring to the Iran nuclear deal’s formal name, the Plan of Action Joint Integral “We have been working with partners to expose the growing ties between Iran and Russia and hold them accountable. We will stand firm in countering any cooperation that is contrary to our nonproliferation goals.”
The Iranian Mission to the UN and the Russian Foreign Ministry did not return requests for comment.
Correction: An earlier version of this story has been updated to clarify the description of Iran’s nuclear program.
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