According to Axios:
U.S. and Israeli intelligence agenciesare looking into new information about computer modeling byIranian scientists that could be used for research and development of nuclear weapons, two U.S. officials plus one current and one former Israeli official told Axios.
Why it matters: The purpose of the modeling is unclear. Some U.S. and Israeli officials said the intelligence is a worrying signal about Iran’s nuclear weapons ambitions, but other officials on both sides said it as a “blip” that doesn’t represent a shift in Iran’s policy and strategy towards weaponization. Iran has repeatedly denied wanting nuclear weapons.
- Senior U.S. and Israeli officials will meet at the White House on Thursday for the U.S.-Israel strategic consultative group (SCG) to discuss the state of the Iranian nuclear program and other issues.
- It will be the first high-level and in-depth discussion between the U.S and Israel about the Iranian nuclear program since March 2023.
Behind the scenes: One U.S. and one Israeli official said the new intelligence raised “suspicion” and “concern”about Iran’s nuclear research and development activities.
- One Israeli official said that after the intelligence failure around the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, the Israeli intelligence community is considering even more seriously any small piece of information about potential Iranian steps toward nuclear weapons.
- The U.S. intelligence community made an assessment in 2007 that Iran hasn’t had an active military nuclear program since 2003. That assessment hasn’t changed, U.S. officials told Axios.
- One U.S. and one Israeli official said both countries’ intelligence agencies do not have any indication that Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei ordered the military nuclear program to be resumed.
Another U.S. official said there was “no change to our assessment that Iran is not currently undertaking the key nuclear weapons development activities necessary to produce a testable nuclear device.”
- Aides to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declined to comment.