By Natasha Bertrand, CNN
Iran is Russia’s help in bolstering its nuclear program, U. S. intelligence officials say, as Tehran seeks a backup plan if a lasting nuclear deal with world powers fails to materialize.
Intelligence suggests Iran has asked Russia to obtain additional nuclear curtains and produce nuclear fuel, the resources with knowledge of the matter said. to create a nuclear weapon.
However, experts told CNN that the threat of nuclear proliferation varies depending on the reactor for which the fuel is used. And it’s also unclear whether Russia has agreed to it: The Kremlin has long opposed Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon.
But the Iranian proposal came as part of an expanding partnership between Iran and Russia that in recent months has included Iran sending drones and other devices to Russia for use in its war in Ukraine, and Moscow advising Tehran on how to quell a sweeping protest movement. Iran, the U. S. officials said.
Iran has said its nuclear program is for nonviolent purposes only and that it has officially halted its weapons program, but U. S. officials have said Iran’s uranium enrichment activities have far exceeded the parameters of the 2015 nuclear deal and that the time it would take Iran to produce enough fissile curtains for a nuclear weapon requires only a few months.
In June, U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned lawmakers that Iran’s “nuclear program” is galloping. The longer it lasts, the more the escape time decreases. . . it is now reduced, according to public reports, to a few months for And if this continues, it will be only a matter of weeks.
Biden’s management is watching with fear any new space for cooperation between Iran and Russia. Any covert Russian aid to Iran that can simply encourage Iranian efforts to produce a nuclear weapon would also mark a significant shift in Russian policy, given Russia’s club in the P5 1 organization of countries that engaged in negotiations to thwart Iran’s nuclear program.
“As we said, the JCPOA is on the agenda,” National Security Council spokeswoman Adrienne Watson told CNN, referring to the Iran nuclear deal’s official call, the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. “We have worked with partners to publicize the development of ties between Iran and Russia, and we will hold them accountable. We will be a companion to counter any cooperation that runs counter to our nonproliferation objectives. “
Iran’s project to the UN and Russian Foreign Ministry responded to requests for comment.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said last week that Iran turns to Russia for help in its nuclear program in exchange for military assistance to Moscow, but the intelligence received through the United States does not imply the lifestyle of a particular quid pro quo, the sources said.
Instead, Iran’s overtures to Russia appear to be driven, at least in part, by confidence among senior Iranian officials that a new nuclear deal will be revived or, if so, last.
Intelligence sources told CNN that Iran’s gazes appeared sharper over the summer as it appeared to be nearing a new nuclear deal with the United States and other world powers known as the P5-1, an organization that includes Russia. Iran feared that a long-term management would withdraw from a deal, as Trump’s management did in 2018, so it sought a secondary agreement with Russia that would allow it to temporarily complete its nuclear program if necessary.
CNN has reported in the past that Iran had asked the U. S. to do more for the U. S. U. S. assurances that long-term management would not renege on the agreement, a promise the U. S. has made a pledge that the U. S. has won’t renege on. The U. S. government said it might not comply.
Asked if the developing partnership between Iran and Russia has anything to do with the derailment of talks on the nuclear deal, a senior management official told CNN: “Obviously, sub-agreements between Russia that fundamentally undermine the design of the 2015 deal would be a serious fear and further reduction. the option to get back to the deal. ” The official declined to comment in particular on the intelligence assessments.
James Acton, co-director of the nuclear policy program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said he doesn’t think Iran necessarily wants help, but they have an incentive to produce the fuel faster, less expensive and in a shorter timeframe.
“They have transparent incentives to ask for help, especially on the fuel side,” Acton said.
“Three or four years ago, when U. S. -Russian relations were bad, but not catastrophic, I would be skeptical about Russia’s assistance to Iran,” Acton added. “But in the existing conditions, in which U. S. -Russian relations are incredibly bad and Russian-Iranian relations are improving, I think the equation is different for Russia. “
The U. S. withdrawal The U. S. military’s willingness to the JCPOA has probably also increased Russia’s willingness toward Iran in this regard, Acton noted, and especially now that a new deal is out of reach.
Russia played a key role in 2021 in the talks on the nuclear deal and even negotiated some agreements that allowed the International Atomic Energy Agency to approve inspections at Iran’s nuclear sites, thus keeping the negotiations on track.
However, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February, Russian officials gave the impression of being less involved in the deal. In June, Russia rejected a solution proposed by the IAEA that criticized Iran for failing to cooperate with inspections of uranium lines discovered in some of the country’s deposits. Undeclared nuclear sites, a critical point that helped derail the talks. That same month, a Russian delegation began visiting an airfield in Iran to read about weapons-capable drones, which Russia has now bought and used in Ukraine by the hundreds.
U. S. officials have been under pressure in recent days and weeks that negotiations on the nuclear deal are still dead, at least for now. The Iranian regime’s brutal and violent crackdown on protesters and its aid for Russian military operations in Ukraine have made it increasingly difficult for senior officials in the Biden administration to strike a deal with Tehran that would provide it with monetary providence in the form of sanctions relief.
U. S. special envoy for Iran Rob Malley said Monday that while the U. S. remains committed to international relations to curtail Iran’s nuclear program, U. S. officials will “waste our time” on the nuclear deal “if something happens. “
On the other hand, the U. S. The U. S. government is now focusing on spaces where it can be “useful,” Malley said, such as supporting protesters in Iran and locating tactics to prevent Iranian arms transfers to Russia. He noted that the U. S. The US has a “preference for diplomacy” in its relations with Iran. But, he added, “we will use other tools and, as a last resort, a military option if necessary, to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. “
CORRECTION: This story has been updated to explain the description of Iran’s nuclear program.
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