Tehran has made its most significant nuclear moves since the election of President Joe Biden, who has softened U.S. policy toward Iran and seeks re-entry into the JCPOA. Many of these steps provide Iran with irreversible knowledge relevant to atomic weapons production.
Tehran has also reduced International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) access and monitoring, leading to further diminished oversight of Iran’s expanding nuclear program. In addition to sanctions relief and the political humiliation of its adversary the United States, Tehran now appears to seek nuclear-threshold status, a position that may render other states unable or unwilling to prevent Iran from producing a nuclear weapon should it decide to do so.
