JERUSALEM – As Iran ramps up its threats to launch a massive attack against U.S. ally Israel and possibly American assets in the region, the rogue regime in Tehran is on the cusp of producing a nuclear bomb.

Late last month, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., said after having reviewed a Director of National Intelligence report on Iran’s atomic program, “I believe it is a certainty that if we do not change course, Iran will in the coming weeks or months possess a nuclear weapon.” He added, “Iran will keep going until someone tells them to stop. It is time to put red lines on their nuclear program. The idea of ambiguity is not working.”

Graham termed the findings in the DNI report “unnerving” and said Iran’s “ability to weaponize material has advanced” with respect to a nuclear weapons device.

Just weeks before Graham’s dramatic announcement about Iran being on the brink of nuclear-armed weapons status, he sent a strongly worded letter to DNI head Avril Haines, stating,”You are in violation of the law” over her vehement opposition to disclosing sensitive information to Congress on Iran’s nuclear progress. In 2022, Congress passed a law requiring the government to provide updates on Iran’s atomic program. Haines eventually complied after Graham went public in the media.

ISRAEL’S ‘SWORN ENEMY’ HEZBOLLAH TELLS IRAN IT WOULD FIGHT ALONE IF CONFLICT ESCALATES

Graham told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on July 31 that there is no Hamas or Hezbollah without Iran’s regime. He urged Israel to launch attacks against Iran’s oil refineries, with the view toward stopping Iranian jingoism. In April, Iran launched over 300 missiles, drones and rockets into Israel.

A spokesperson for the U.S. State Department told Fox News Digital, “As the President and the Secretary have made clear, the United States will ensure one way or another that Iran will never have a nuclear weapon.

“We will continue working with Congress to use a variety of tools in pursuit of that goal and all options remain on the table.”

Iran’s Bushehr nuclear power plant, on Nov. 10, 2019. (Atta Kenare/AFP via Getty Images)

The spokesperson added, “The intelligence community continues to assess that the Supreme Leader has not made any decision to restart the nuclear weapons program that Iran halted in 2003. That said, we remain deeply concerned with Iran’s continued expansion of nuclear activities in ways that have no credible civilian purpose and continue to vigilantly monitor them.”

However, Fox News Digital reported in July 2023 that intelligence reports from European states contradict the Biden administration’s assertion that Iran’s regime has not restarted its atomic weapons program. Netherlands General and Intelligence Security Service (AIVD) assessed Tehran’s development of weapons-grade uranium “brings the option of a possible [Iranian] first nuclear test closer.”

Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei addresses the media during elections in Tehran, Iran, on May 10, 2024. (Fatemeh Bahrami/Anadolu via Getty Images)

When asked about critics who claim Biden has not enforced oil and gas sanctions against Iran’s regime, the State Department spokesman said, “The Biden Administration has not lifted a single sanction on Iran.  Rather, we continue to increase pressure. Our extensive sanctions on Iran remain in place, and we continue to enforce them. Over the last three years, the United States has sanctioned over 700 individuals and entities connected to the full range of Iran’s reckless and destabilizing behaviors.”

Republican lawmakers and Iran experts have slammed the Biden administration for alleged appeasement toward the mullah regime with respect to unfreezing tens of billions of dollars in sanctions relief.

The State Department spokesperson said, “Since 2021, we have sanctioned dozens of individuals and entities across multiple jurisdictions, including the PRC, UAE, and Southeast Asia for roles in the production, sale, and shipment of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Iranian petrochemicals and petroleum products. And we have identified as blocked property numerous vessels involved in this trade. “

BIDEN ADMIN UNDER PRESSURE TO STOP BILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN SANCTIONS RELIEF TO IRAN

David Albright, physicist and founder and president of the Institute for Science and International Security in Washington, D.C., told Fox News Digital, “Sen. Graham’s statement of being unnerved is good to hear. The IC assessment has been flawed ever since its 2007 National Intelligence Estimate.”

Albright is widely considered one of the world’s leading experts on Iran’s nuclear program. He said, “Sen. Graham mentioned that some advances had occurred in Iran’s ability to make nuclear weapons, i.e. weaponize the weapon-grade uranium into a nuclear weapon, but his comment was sparse and devoid of substance. It is in this area, however, where new intelligence community assessments may or may not lurk. But I cannot weigh in on this based on what the senator said.” 

A military truck carries a missile past a portrait of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during an annual military parade. (Atta Kenare/AFP/GettyImages))

Albright worked closely with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Action Team from 1992 until 1997, focusing on Iraqi documents and past procurement activities. In 1996, he served as the first non-governmental inspector of the Iraqi nuclear program. 

Albright said, “It is clear that the DNI report included a short timeframe for Iran to produce a significant quantity of weapon-grade uranium, but this is old news and well-established by the IAEA in its quarterly reports and some standard calculations. The new twist is Iran’s recent expansion at the deeply buried Fordow site, which gives Iran a new ability to produce significant quantities of weapon-grade uranium in days at this site. But again, we have reported on this.”

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in July about Iran’s quest to obtain a nuclear weapon, “Instead of being at least a year away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material for a nuclear weapon, (Iran) is now probably one or two weeks away from doing that.” 

NETANYAHU REPORTEDLY UPSET WITH HARRIS OVER VP’S ISRAEL REMARKS AS WHITE HOUSE PUSHES BACK

Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps personnel in Tehran for the unveiling of a missile during a military rally on Nov. 24, 2023. (Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

When asked about the breakout concept, Albright said, “Breakout is usually defined as the time for Iran to produce enough weapon-grade for a single nuclear weapon. It has been measured in days rather than months for many months, based on IAEA reporting in its quarterly reports and standard calculational methods, which we have regularly published and the studies are on our website.”

He continued, “A common assessment, which we share, is that Iran has not made a formal decision to build nuclear weapons, so it has also not made a decision to breakout and produce weapon-grade uranium.”

“Breakout is not typically used to discuss the entire time Iran would need to produce its first nuclear weapon,” Albright noted. “This timeframe depends on the breakout above but also on what type of weapon would Iran build. Our assessment is that Iran could build a crude nuclear explosive, deliverable by truck, or able to be exploded underground in six months. It would need longer, perhaps six more months in a crash program to be able to mount a reliable nuclear warhead on a ballistic missile.”

Gabriel Noronha, a former U.S. Department State adviser on Iran, told Fox News Digital, “Iran has been decreasing its nuclear enrichment breakout time over the past five years, but that’s different than them actually making the decision to go and rush toward a bomb. However, they love the flexibility and leverage that being this close brings them – especially now that they are under two weeks away from having enough enriched uranium, and haven’t suffered any significant consequences as a result.”

An arch glorifying Hezbollah shows pictures of its chief, Hassan Nasrallah, and Iran’s Ali Khamenei in a suburb of Beirut, Lebanon, on Jan. 16, 2011. (Anwar Amro/AFP via Getty Images)

He added, “However, it is much less clear how close Iran’s weaponization program has come to both building a weapon and being able to pair it on a missile that could reach Israel or other American allies. What’s clear from Sen. Graham’s press conference is that Iran keeps on getting closer and closer on this part of its nuclear program.”

Noronha, who is also a fellow at the Jewish Institute for National Security of America (JINSA), urged “Biden to have a clear and credible red line that further progress toward a nuclear weapon would be met with a military response. But he should only make a threat like that if he is willing to back it up with action. If President Biden really wants to avoid military action, then he needs to roll out every possible diplomatic and economic consequence in the interim to punish and deter Iran from proceeding any further.”

Movement that runs the Gaza Strip says its senior officials have started broad consultations ‘to choose a new chief’.

Hamas says it has initiated consultations to select a new leader of the Palestinian group after the assassination of its political chief Ismail Haniyeh.

“Following the martyrdom of our leader, the leaders of the movement have started a broad consultation process within its hierarchy and advisory institutions to choose a new chief,” Hamas said in a statement published on its social media accounts on Sunday.

The statement said Haniyeh’s killing “would only make the Hamas and the Palestinian resistance stronger and more determined to continue his path and approach”.

The group said the results of consultations will be announced as soon as they are completed.

Haniyeh was assassinated in the Iranian capital, Tehran, early on Wednesday in an attack the Iranian officials blame on Israel. His bodyguard was also killed.

Iran and groups aligned with it in the Middle East have promised to avenge Haniyeh’s killing. Israel – accused by Hamas, Iran and others of carrying out the attack – has not directly commented on the killing.

Haniyeh was in Tehran to attend the inauguration of Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian.

After a funeral in Tehran, where prayers were led by Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei on Thursday, Haniyeh’s remains were flown to Doha for burial.

The Hamas leader was based in the Qatari capital, where negotiations with Israel and other stakeholders, including Egypt and the United States, over a possible ceasefire in Gaza have been held on and off since the war started in October.

Regional escalation fears

As Iran and its allies prepare their response to Haniyeh’s assassination, tensions are soaring in the Middle East over fears of a regional war.

Israel’s main ally, the US, said it would move more warships and fighter jets to the region while several Western governments, including the US and the United Kingdom, have called on their citizens to immediately leave Lebanon, where Hamas’s ally, Hezbollah, is based.

Haniyeh’s killing in Tehran had come only hours after the Israeli assassination of Hezbollah’s military chief in Beirut, triggering promises of revenge from Iran and the “axis of resistance”, which are armed groups in the Middle East supported by Iran.

Iran on Saturday said it expects Hezbollah to hit deeper inside Israel and no longer be confined to military targets.

When US President Joe Biden was asked by reporters on Saturday if he thought Iran would stand down after the Tehran attack, he said: “I hope so. I don’t know.”

Meanwhile, Israel’s army early on Sunday said about 30 rockets were launched from southern Lebanon into Israel, adding that most of them were shot down and no injuries were reported.

The barrage of rockets was fired after Israeli air strikes targeted several areas in southern Lebanon overnight, Lebanese media reported.

Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah have been trading fire since the day after the Gaza war began on October 7. It has killed nearly 40,000 Palestinians so far and displaced almost the entire population of the besieged enclave amid widespread starvation and health emergencies.