At the center of the conflict in the Middle East is also the Iranian nuclear program. For years, Iran has wanted to acquire nuclear technology. Tehran says it would be used for civilian purposes, but Westerners fear that the technology could be exploited for military purposes.
The conflict in the Middle East – involving Israel, Hezbollah, Hamas and Iran – continues to escalate. Today, the nuclear threat is very real. “Iran’s nuclear program accelerated after two key events: the unilateral withdrawal of the Trump administration from the nuclear deal, which was concluded in 2015, and then the assassination of Soleimani (the head of the Guardians of the revolution) in 2020“, explains Elena Aoun, professor of international relations at UCLouvain.
Benjamin Netanyahu has always had an obsession with Iran, particularly its nuclear program
“Today, we think that Iran could develop (nuclear technology, editor’s note). It is not attested, but we know that he succeeded in enriching uranium at significant rates. These are not the rates necessary to produce a nuclear weapon, but we are slowly getting closer. For civilian uses, we are at 3.5% and for nuclear weapons, we are more like 90%. Today, Iran would have uranium enriched to 60%“.
Is this nuclear weapon a means of putting pressure on the West?
“Quite”, says Elena Aoun. “I would like to remind you that it was not Iran that withdrew from the agreement. Recently, we heard President Biden calling for the resumption of negotiations, which had not been successful despite real progress. So we are in this context, and I think that Iran is waiting for an opportunity to return to the situation of 2015, a situation that it perceives as being advantageous for it“.
Are Iranian nuclear sites potential targets for Israel?
“It is interesting to note that Benjamin Netanyahu has always had an obsession with Iran, in particular its nuclear program“, underlines the professor of international relations.”When he was still a simple parliamentarian in 1992, he said that Iran would have nuclear weapons within 2-3 years. As Prime Minister he has this program in his sights and I think he will try to target the program“.
“Do they have the means? Most certainly. Israel is the only nuclear power in the Middle East. We have seen, through the bombs used, that they can go very deep, now, will the Iranians be able to go deeper than them? It is not excluded, for example, that Israel will make its nuclear “coming out”, using nuclear charges combined with shells.“.
Middle East conflict Iran Israel nuclear weapon
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