WASHINGTON, June 19. /TASS/. US President Donald Trump said Iran could have obtained a nuclear weapon in a few weeks.
"I think they were a few weeks away from having one, and they had to sign a document. I think they wish they have signed it. Now it was a fair deal. And now it's a harder thing to sign," he told reporters at the White House.
"I believe they'd use it [a nuclear weapon]," Trump added.
Trump’s Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard said in March that US intelligence agencies had found no evidence suggesting Iran was working to build a nuclear weapon. She added that Iran's supreme leader Ali Khamenei had not authorized a revival of the country’s nuclear weapons development program suspended in 2003. Gabbard said the US intelligence community is closely monitoring Iran's nuclear activities.
CNN, citing sources, reported earlier this week that American intelligence has concluded that Tehran is not developing its own nuclear weapons.
Israel launched Operation Rising Lion on the night of June 13, targeting Iran's nuclear program. The Islamic Republic retaliated less than a day later. In the next few days, Israel and Iran continued to exchange blows. Both states reported deaths and injuries, acknowledged that some objects on their territories were hit, but stated that the damage was limited.