Iran’s Nuclear Program Too Advanced Now to Restore 2015 Deal, U.S. Officials Say

Iran has advanced its nuclear program so much since the Trump administration pulled out of a deal with the country in 2018 that it is now too late to bring back the original terms of the pact, The Wall Street Journal reports. U.S. officials cited by the Journal have said a race is on to secure a new deal with Tehran, otherwise Washington will be powerless to respond to any sudden nuclear buildup. One of the major concerns, according to the report, is the breakout period that Iran would need to develop fuel for a bomb. The 2015 pact that was scrapped by former President Trump was based on a breakout period of about 12 months, during which time the U.S. and other Western powers would be able to respond. But Iran has picked up the pace so much that the breakout period is now down to only a few weeks, according to U.S. officials. “As we have said, we have only a few weeks to conclude an understanding, after which the pace of Iran’s nuclear advances will make return to the JCPOA impossible,” a State Department spokesperson said of the deal, officially called the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action.