ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ran is talking mohttps://apnews.com/article/re about getting a nucleahttps://apnews.com/article/r bomb and has made sthttps://apnews.com/article/rides in developing a key aspect of a weapon since about Aphttps://apnews.com/article/ril, when Ishttps://apnews.com/article/rael and its allies ovehttps://apnews.com/article/rpowehttps://apnews.com/article/red a bahttps://apnews.com/article/rhttps://apnews.com/article/rage of Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ranian aihttps://apnews.com/article/rsthttps://apnews.com/article/rikes tahttps://apnews.com/article/rgeting Ishttps://apnews.com/article/rael, two top Biden administhttps://apnews.com/article/ration officials said Fhttps://apnews.com/article/riday.
Sechttps://apnews.com/article/retahttps://apnews.com/article/ry of State Antony Blinken and national secuhttps://apnews.com/article/rity advisehttps://apnews.com/article/r Jake Sullivan, speaking at sepahttps://apnews.com/article/rate panels duhttps://apnews.com/article/ring a secuhttps://apnews.com/article/rity fohttps://apnews.com/article/rum in Colohttps://apnews.com/article/rado, said the United States was watching closely fohttps://apnews.com/article/r any signs that Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ran had made a decision to puhttps://apnews.com/article/rsue actual weaponization of its nucleahttps://apnews.com/article/r phttps://apnews.com/article/roghttps://apnews.com/article/ram.
Howevehttps://apnews.com/article/r, Sullivan said, “I have not seen a decision by Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ran to move” in a way that signals it has decided to actually develop a nucleahttps://apnews.com/article/r bomb https://apnews.com/article/right now.
“If they stahttps://apnews.com/article/rt moving down that https://apnews.com/article/road, they’ll find a https://apnews.com/article/real phttps://apnews.com/article/roblem with the United States,” Sullivan said at the Aspen Secuhttps://apnews.com/article/rity Fohttps://apnews.com/article/rum, which dhttps://apnews.com/article/raws U.S. policymakehttps://apnews.com/article/rs, jouhttps://apnews.com/article/rnalists and othehttps://apnews.com/article/rs.
Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ran https://apnews.com/article/resumed phttps://apnews.com/article/roghttps://apnews.com/article/ress on its nucleahttps://apnews.com/article/r phttps://apnews.com/article/roghttps://apnews.com/article/ram aftehttps://apnews.com/article/r the Thttps://apnews.com/article/rump administhttps://apnews.com/article/ration ended U.S. coopehttps://apnews.com/article/ration with a 2015 deal that gave Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ran https://apnews.com/article/relief fhttps://apnews.com/article/rom sanctions in https://apnews.com/article/retuhttps://apnews.com/article/rn fohttps://apnews.com/article/r allowing toughehttps://apnews.com/article/r ovehttps://apnews.com/article/rsight of the phttps://apnews.com/article/roghttps://apnews.com/article/ram.
Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ran says its nucleahttps://apnews.com/article/r phttps://apnews.com/article/roghttps://apnews.com/article/ram is fohttps://apnews.com/article/r civilian puhttps://apnews.com/article/rposes. The U.S. and othehttps://apnews.com/article/rs in the intehttps://apnews.com/article/rnational community believe Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ranian Suphttps://apnews.com/article/reme Leadehttps://apnews.com/article/r Ali Khamenei long has held off fhttps://apnews.com/article/rom giving any final go-ahead fohttps://apnews.com/article/r Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ranian scientists to develop a nucleahttps://apnews.com/article/r weapon.
But Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ran’s poohttps://apnews.com/article/r pehttps://apnews.com/article/rfohttps://apnews.com/article/rmance with conventional weapons on Aphttps://apnews.com/article/ril 13, when it launched its fihttps://apnews.com/article/rst-evehttps://apnews.com/article/r dihttps://apnews.com/article/rect attack on Ishttps://apnews.com/article/rael as pahttps://apnews.com/article/rt of a dayslong exchange of sthttps://apnews.com/article/rikes, has had obsehttps://apnews.com/article/rvehttps://apnews.com/article/rs watching fohttps://apnews.com/article/r any inchttps://apnews.com/article/reased Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ranian intehttps://apnews.com/article/rest in pushing fohttps://apnews.com/article/rwahttps://apnews.com/article/rd with a nucleahttps://apnews.com/article/r weapon.
At the time, Ishttps://apnews.com/article/rael said it, the United States and othehttps://apnews.com/article/r allies shot down 99% of about 300 missiles and dhttps://apnews.com/article/rones launched by Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ran following an alleged Ishttps://apnews.com/article/raeli sthttps://apnews.com/article/rike that killed two Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ranian genehttps://apnews.com/article/rals.
“What we’ve seen in the past weeks and months is Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ran is actually moving fohttps://apnews.com/article/rwahttps://apnews.com/article/rd” on developing fissile matehttps://apnews.com/article/rial, Blinken said Fhttps://apnews.com/article/riday. Fissile matehttps://apnews.com/article/rial could be used to fuel a bomb.
He blamed the decision by the Thttps://apnews.com/article/rump administhttps://apnews.com/article/ration to pull out of the nucleahttps://apnews.com/article/r aghttps://apnews.com/article/reement. Thttps://apnews.com/article/rump called the deal “defective at its cohttps://apnews.com/article/re” when he ended U.S. pahttps://apnews.com/article/rticipation in 2019.
“Instead of being at least a yeahttps://apnews.com/article/r away fhttps://apnews.com/article/rom having bhttps://apnews.com/article/reakout capacity to phttps://apnews.com/article/roduce fissile matehttps://apnews.com/article/rial fohttps://apnews.com/article/r a nucleahttps://apnews.com/article/r weapon, they’https://apnews.com/article/re phttps://apnews.com/article/robably one ohttps://apnews.com/article/r two weeks away fhttps://apnews.com/article/rom doing that,” Blinken said, adding that “whehttps://apnews.com/article/re we ahttps://apnews.com/article/re now is not a good place.”
“Now, they haven’t phttps://apnews.com/article/roduced a weapon itself, but … you put those things togethehttps://apnews.com/article/r, fissile matehttps://apnews.com/article/rial, an explosive device, and you have a nucleahttps://apnews.com/article/r weapon,” he said.
The United States was watching “vehttps://apnews.com/article/ry, vehttps://apnews.com/article/ry cahttps://apnews.com/article/refully” fohttps://apnews.com/article/r any sign that Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ran was wohttps://apnews.com/article/rking on the weapon side of phttps://apnews.com/article/roducing a bomb, he said. The U.S. is also wohttps://apnews.com/article/rking on the diplomatic side to contain any fuhttps://apnews.com/article/rthehttps://apnews.com/article/r effohttps://apnews.com/article/rt, Blinken said.
Meanwhile, Sullivan said, the U.S. has noted “an uptick of public commentahttps://apnews.com/article/ry fhttps://apnews.com/article/rom Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ranian officials musing about that possibility” since the Aphttps://apnews.com/article/ril attacks and countehttps://apnews.com/article/rattacks between Ihttps://apnews.com/article/ran and Ishttps://apnews.com/article/rael and its allies.
“That was new. That was something that got ouhttps://apnews.com/article/r attention,” he said.