US and Israel to Meet Over New Iranian Nuclear Intelligence

For the first time in more than a year, US and Israeli officials will reportedly meet on Thursday to discuss the state of Iran’s nuclear program, according to a report by Axios.

The reason for the meeting of the US-Israel strategic consultative group (SCG) could be to discuss whether Iran has begun active measures to develop nuclear weapons.

Apparently, Iran has obtained computer modeling that could be used for research and development of nuclear weapons, Axios quoted former and current US and Israeli officials as saying. However, there is no unanimous agreement on whether the new capability means Tehran has begun the final process to build weapons, or it does not represent a major shift.

Iran has accumulated enough enriched uranium to build at least three bombs if it decides to weaponize, and it has expelled most UN inspectors from the country. The International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, has admitted that it has lost its ability to monitor Iran’s nuclear activity. The agency’s board of governors censured Iran earlier this month for lack of cooperation, prompting a response that Tehran will accelerate uranium enrichment. Washington warned Tehran last week not to further accelerate its uranium enrichment. The US and its European allies to take Iran’s case to the UN Security Council for reinstating international sanctions.

One US and one Israeli official told Axios the new intelligence raised “suspicion” and “concern” about Iran’s intentions. According to one official, Israelis are nervous about their failure to predict the October 7 Hamas attack and scrutinize every information available about Iran’s nuclear activities.