Iran could take steps to become a nuclear power after being severely weakened by wars in the Middle East, the White House has warned.
Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden’s national security adviser, said he has personally warned Donald Trump, the president-elect, that he must be “vigilant” about the threat of a possible nuclear escalation in the Middle East, which has increasingly suffered from growing wars.
Iran’s key allies, Hamas, Hezbollah and the former Syrian government led by dictator Bashar al-Assad, have been severely damaged or completely destroyed over the past year, which Sullivan warned could push the nation, led by Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, to abandon nuclear.
‘It’s a risk we’re trying to be vigilant about now. It is a risk that I am personally briefing the incoming team about,” Sullivan said, adding that he had also consulted with US ally Israel.
The incoming Trump administration appears to be taking the threat seriously, with the Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month that he and his team have been seriously considering launching pre-emptive strikes against Iran.
He reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he is incredibly worried that Iran could go nuclear while he is in office, and that he was hatching plans to prevent it.
But the attacks would be a major break in the long-standing policy of dealing with Iran through sanctions and diplomacy.
In addition to the attacks, Trump is considering imposing stricter economic sanctions on Iran than when he was last in office.
Iranian leader Ali Khamenei attends a program in Tehran, Iran, on December 22, 2024
A view of the exhibition as Iran displays its missiles, satellite-carrying rockets and air defense systems, including the missiles and drones used in the Israeli attack, at the Permanent Exhibition Center of the Revolutionary Guard Army Aviation and Space Park in the capital, Tehran, Iran. October 17, 2024
Iran currently has enough enriched uranium to produce four nuclear bombs, making it the only non-nuclear-weapon country producing near-weapons-grade fissile material.
If you wanted to, it would take just a few days to turn it into weapons-grade nuclear fuel.
It comes amid reports that Iran has been orchestrating teenagers to attack Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe, as part of its campaign to dominate the Middle East.
Investigators have linked at least three cases in Stockholm and Gothenburg in which Iranian-affiliated actors hired teenagers as young as 13 to stir up trouble at companies or diplomatic missions linked to Israel.
Bloomberg reported that the security services of Sweden and Norway, which have long been open societies with minimal levels of surveillance, are particularly vulnerable to these attacks.
Potential attackers are contacted via WhatsApp, Telegram or TikTok, according to Peter Nesser, a terrorism researcher at Norway’s defense research institute, where they are offered just €1,500 (£1,242) per murder.
Meanwhile, a Molotov cocktail attack can cost as little as €120 (£99).