Iran: influential officials openly call for the bomb – row over uranium stockpile
Lawmakers and security officials are speaking openly about nuclear weapons. Washington is reportedly weighing strikes on the facility at “Pickaxe Mountain.”
Archive image · Photo: khamenei.ir / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 4.0 (cropped and resized)
In Iran, lawmakers and senior security officials are now openly calling for a nuclear bomb – something that would have been unthinkable a few years ago, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty writes in an analysis. Tehran’s official line remains that the country does not seek nuclear weapons. However, Supreme National Security Council secretary Mohsen Rezaei has questioned whether Iran should remain in the Non-Proliferation Treaty while its facilities are under attack, Al Jazeera reported.
The central point of contention in the stalled talks with the US is the highly enriched uranium. Before the Israeli and US strikes in June 2025, the International Atomic Energy Agency estimated the stockpile at 440 kilograms enriched up to 60 percent; its current size and location cannot be verified because the IAEA cannot inspect key facilities. US President Donald Trump wants to dismantle the nuclear programme, while Vice President JD Vance has suggested a “meaningful” reduction in enrichment capacity might suffice.
Washington is reportedly weighing strikes on Pickaxe Mountain, which US and Israeli officials say holds thousands of Iranian centrifuges. Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said the country is “truly in war conditions.” Ellie Geranmayeh of the European Council on Foreign Relations warned of possible joint Israeli-US strikes after Israel’s election and the US midterms.