Defense Minister Bnei Gantz revealed this morning (Tuesday) that Iran is currently making an effort to complete the production and installation of a thousand advanced IR6 centrifuges, including at an underground site near Natanz.
The new centrifuges bring the Iranians a few weeks to a few months closer to achieving the amount of enriched uranium needed to form a nuclear bomb.
According to Eli Bar-On, an expert in missiles and advanced weapons systems, "there is a difference between the amount of material needed to create a bomb and operational nuclear capability, and this gap creates a time window that could allow one last chance to stop the Iranians. I would say that Gantz revealed today that the same famous time window, which is being built in the West and was already narrow in the first place, has been reduced even further. ".
Estimates - Iran will have difficulty attacking nuclear weapons without missile launching capabilities
Israel's security sources have recently estimated, following Iran's withdrawal from the nuclear deal, that even if it obtains sufficient fissile material to form a bomb, it is likely to have difficulty installing a nuclear warhead on a missile - a process that could delay it operationally by one to two years.
However, a former KMG official who spoke to Israel Today and asked to remain anonymous, noted that nuclear capability can be achieved even without the use of missiles: The bombs on planes and released them from the air.
"Missiles are an excellent means of nuclear attack, but they are not the only means."
Launching a long-range missile in Iran (for illustration), Photo: Reuters
Bar-On agrees with this statement, but qualifies it: "It is true that Iran is very close to the point where it can blow up a nuclear device and possibly even arm its aircraft, but there is a good reason why it is investing so much effort in its missile program. "It is very outdated and suffers from a critical shortage of spare parts as a result of the long-standing embargo imposed on the Islamic Republic, even before it began developing a nuclear program. It will be very difficult for them to penetrate Israel's air defense systems using aircraft."
"Any kind of nuclear capability poses an unbearable danger for Israel, but one must prepare mainly for a scenario in which they will have a missile nuclear capability. He continued.
Bar-On also clarified that due to this threat, it is of great importance that Israel develops advanced means of intercepting missiles: "The only means that can effectively deal with large volleys of missiles is interception using a powerful laser - preferably at least a thousand kilowatts - Israel must accelerate its development as much as possible, and not settle for the development of smaller laser guns that are only suitable for rockets and shrapnel.
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