America’s enemies are becoming more and more unhinged. There’s no telling when they could strike.
And a nuclear threat from this foreign enemy has the Pentagon on red alert.
Iran’s Nuclear Threat Hits Critical Levels, Warns U.S. Research Institute
As high-stakes talks between the United States and Iran loom this weekend, a prominent Washington, D.C.-based research group has dropped a bombshell report that paints a chilling picture of Tehran’s nuclear ambitions.
The Institute for Science and International Security, a key player in tracking Iran’s shadowy nuclear weapons program, released its latest findings under the stark title, “The Iran Threat Geiger Counter: Extreme Danger Grows.” The message is clear: Iran’s atomic arsenal is teetering on the edge of a terrifying breakthrough.
The report pulls no punches, stating, “Since February 2024, the date of its last report, the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program has worsened significantly.” It points to a perfect storm of developments: Iran’s enhanced ability to craft nuclear weapons, shrinking timelines to assemble them, and a troubling shift in domestic chatter that increasingly embraces the idea of going nuclear.
The study suggests that Iran’s setbacks in regional conflicts—particularly its losing battle against Israel and its allies—might be pushing Tehran closer to a fateful decision.
“Major negative factors include Iran’s greater nuclear weapon capabilities, its shorter time frames to build nuclear weapons, and the growing normalization of internal Iranian discussions favoring building nuclear weapons,” the report explains.
It adds that the escalating chaos in the Middle East, where Iran and its proxies are clashing with Israel, is fueling a perception—real or not—that Tehran is gearing up to cross the nuclear threshold.
President Donald Trump weighed in on Wednesday, sounding the alarm with characteristic urgency. “We have a little time, but we don’t have much time, because we’re not going to let them have a nuclear weapon. We can’t let them have a nuclear weapon,” he said.
Emphasizing his bottom line, he added, “I’m not asking for much. I just — I don’t — they can’t have a nuclear weapon.” When pressed on whether military action is on the table if Iran refuses to back down, Trump didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely,” he replied. “If it requires military, we’re going to have military. Israel will obviously be very much involved in that. They’ll be the leader of that. But nobody leads us. We do what we want to do.”
Trump’s hardline stance echoes his 2018 decision to ditch the Obama-era Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. He trashed the agreement, arguing it failed to derail Tehran’s relentless pursuit of a nuclear bomb—a critique that seems to resonate with the Institute’s latest warnings.
Meanwhile, Iran’s regime is playing a murky game of its own. A state-run news outlet claimed this week that Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei’s supposed fatwa against nuclear weapons only forbids their use—not their production.
Fox News Digital tried to get its hands on this alleged religious edict, but Tehran has stonewalled the request. Experts on Iran have long dismissed the fatwa as a convenient fiction.
The Institute’s report doesn’t stop at nuclear concerns. It highlights Iran’s formidable conventional arsenal, noting, “Iran still possesses military capabilities that threaten the region. It has large stockpiles of drones, ballistic missiles, and cruise missiles that it can employ against Israel and its allies.”
The study also flags Iran’s role as a major arms supplier to Russia in the Ukraine war, funneling drones and missiles to Moscow.
Adding fuel to the fire, Kayhan—the venomously anti-American newspaper seen as Khamenei’s mouthpiece—recently called for Trump’s assassination. The State Department fired back, with a spokesperson telling Fox News Digital, “Threatening language from the Iranian regime or its mouthpiece against the President, or any American, is unwise.”
Tehran’s track record only heightens the tension: the regime has already plotted to k*ll Iranian American dissidents on U.S. soil.
With the clock ticking toward this weekend’s talks, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Iran’s nuclear program, paired with its regional aggression and provocative rhetoric, has set the stage for a showdown that could reshape the Middle East—and beyond.
Stay tuned to The Federalist Wire.
