While politicians in Israel (and in the U.S., too) are claiming that Iran is months, even weeks away from a bomb, the head of Israel’s Military Intelligence Maj. Gen. Tamir Hayman says that Iran, in fact, is a “long way” from a bomb. “There is an enriched amount [of uranium] in volumes that we have not seen before and it is disturbing. At the same time, in all other aspects of the Iranian nuclear project we see no progress,” Hayman said in an interview with Israel’s Walla! News, reported the Jerusalem Post. “Not in the weapons project, in the financial area, not in any other sector. Therefore the period of time that still remains of two years has not changed. Because even from the moment you have a breakout, there is still a long way to go before a bomb.”
Though the Post makes no reference to the politicians, Hayman’s view is clearly different from their alarmism. “To the best of our knowledge, the directive has not changed and they are not heading towards a breakout,” he said. “They are not heading towards a bomb right now. It may be in the distant future.”
The Iranians face three choices, Hayman continued, to return to the previous 2015 nuclear deal, break out and go for “unprecedented defiance” including in weapons and continued enrichment, or go for an improved agreement where they will achieve far more than they have in the past. Tehran, Hayman said, will likely try to exhaust long negotiations with the West while continuing to enrich.
Hayman said that while the “right thing to do” is to act on the side of diplomacy vis-à-vis Iran and its nuclear program, there must be a practical reliable military option along with the economic and diplomatic tools. “Let’s just agree with the fact that the right thing to do is to take Iran in the direction we want on the side of diplomacy. An attempt at a better agreement,” Hayman said.
