Former US Iran intelligence chief: Isolating Iran or getting closer to nuclear weapons? !

[New Sancai Compilation First] Norman Roule, who served as the Iran national intelligence manager in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence from 2008 to 2017, said that the United States must isolate Iran and enforce existing sanctions to prevent Tehran from receiving funding Terrorist financing.

He added that Iran was on the verge of building a nuclear weapon and using it to pressure other countries not to strike harder at it.

"Iran's leaders are generally under pressure when they face multilateral economic and diplomatic isolation," Rule said. "This requires a diplomatic effort by the United States not only to isolate Iran diplomatically but also to enforce existing sanctions, because those sanctions, if not enforced, will provide Iran with funds that will translate into lethal actions, and we should Make this clear."

The Biden administration has eased sanctions on Iran in hopes of negotiating a new nuclear deal, which the United States withdrew from during the Trump administration. The easing of sanctions has reportedly added $32 billion to $70 billion to Iran's coffers. Biden also paid $6 billion to Iran in exchange for the five hostages it held.

"When the Trump administration slashed Iran's oil reserves, thereby reducing the funding available to Hezbollah, the Houthis and other groups, deadly operations slowed," Ruhl said. "It deprived them of the ability to pay their people's wages." ability. In fact, some of their people were working on the side because they weren't getting paid. But when that money came back, they suddenly focused on terrorism and the oppression of their own people."

The United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) reported in December 2023 that Iran's enriched uranium purity reaches 60%, and if it reaches 90%, it is considered weapons grade. Ruhr said that because it is so close to producing nuclear weapons, it uses this as leverage to protect itself from further sanctions.

"The international community has basically allowed Iran to enrich uranium to almost 'weapons-grade' levels," Ruhl said. "It's a hard fact: Iran is enriching uranium to 60 percent purity. That's about the purity of the Hiroshima 'atomic bomb.' There is no civilian purpose at this level."

"The international community is saying, we are grateful that you are not producing more. Read the IAEA report in December. Now think about what we just said: You are producing something that has no civilian purpose, which means they are producing something Things that have a potential military purpose. So essentially what we have is an Iran that is closer to the ability to make weapons."

(Compiled by: Wang Jimin)

(Editor: Jiang Qiming)

(Source of the article: Compiled and published by New Sancai)