(PatrioticPost.com)- Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned that Iran is just weeks away from having the materials for a nuclear weapon.
Gantz tweeted in Hebrew about his remarks at Reichman University. The Jerusalem Post reported that Iran produces 20%-enriched uranium and 60 kg of 60%-enriched material. Weapons need 90%-enriched uranium. He said Iran is working on 1,000 new centrifuges.
The defense minister said Iran had blocked IAEA inspectors from its systems. He has called for a “multidimensional” international response to avoid war with Iran. He said that global and regional prices for tackling the Iranian challenge are higher than a year ago and lower than in a year.
According to the defense minister, Iran has been working to improve their military capabilities in various other ways, including the development of cruise missiles, surface-to-surface missiles, and unmanned aerial vehicles with a range of thousands of kilometers.
Because the leadership of Iran has stated that they intend to wipe out the Jewish state, the development of nuclear weapons in Iran could present Israel with an existential threat.
Meanwhile, the Biden administration has been trying to enter into a new nuclear deal with Tehran, years after then-President Donald Trump withdrew from the international Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Critics said it didn’t do enough to prevent an Iranian nuclear weapon in the long term or address their ballistic missile program.
Iran wants the U.S. to remove its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps from the State Department’s list of foreign terrorist organizations. Veterans, Gold Star families, and lawmakers in D.C. have warned against it.
At the same time, the leadership of Iran is being put under pressure from the country’s population, which has been staging demonstrations in response to the country’s faltering economy.
The cuts to food subsidies by the government last week on eggs, milk, chicken, and cooking oil led to price increases of approximately 300 percent, which is what sparked the beginning of the protests. Since then, demonstrations have spread to many different regions across the country and, according to observers, have taken on a much more critical tone toward the government.
Protesters have been heard chanting “Death to Khamenei! Death to Raisi!” about the President of Iran, Ebrahim Raisi, who has pledged to create jobs, lift sanctions, and rescue the economy.
These protesters have shown no fear of the state security services’ ability to retaliate against them.
According to reports, authorities cracked down over the weekend, killing up to five people. According to the Associated Press, a semi-official government news agency put the number of people killed in the protests at one.
