Top US general says ‘multiple options’ ready if Iran develops nuclear weapon
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley said Iran could produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon in less than two weeks.
WASHINGTON —The US military has “multiple options” if Iran decides to develop a nuclear weapon, the Pentagon’s top general told lawmakers Thursday.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley told a House Appropriations Committee hearing that Iran could produce enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon in less than two weeks, after which it would take several more months to develop a nuclear weapon.
Other US officials have offered similar estimates on Iran’s so-called breakout time to produce enough highly enriched uranium for one nuclear bomb, which was around one year when the 2015 nuclear deal was in effect.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Colin Kahl said last month that it would take Iran “about 12 days” to amass “one bomb's worth of fissile material.”
