Iran’s Nuclear Proliferation in Defiance of Global Concerns – Jerusalem Studio

Some 45 days before Joe Biden’s movers vacate the White House for the new tenant, returning to the place he reluctantly left four years earlier, the looming Trump Presidency has an evident impact on Middle Eastern dynamics. A major topic, as always, is the Iranian nuclear project. Trump’s record is known in Tehran, but so is his expressed wish to turn a new page and reach a fresh deal which will block the Iranian quest for nuclear weapons in exchange for lifting the sanctions which curtail the Iranian economy. In anticipation of that policy, and mindful of the personnel choices that Trump has made in staffing his administration, Iran has been making a crude effort to hoard enriched fissile material and ignore its obligations to allow monitoring and inspections of its facilities. This will supposedly give it a better hand once the card game with Trump resumes. How effective is this tactic, and is there a risk that from bargaining Iran could shift to breakout and achieve an initial nuclear weapon posture?