Defense Minister Benny Gantz warned on Monday at the UN that Iran's enrichment capacity has reached worrying proportions.
Gantz spoke with ambassadors representing the UN Security Council members as well envoys from Arab states who are part of the Abraham Accords with Israel, telling them Iran increased the number of advanced centrifuges to enrich uranium and made headway in its overall production know-how in underground facilities.
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According to Gantz, who presented the findings of the Israeli intelligence, what was of particular concern was the degree to which Iran can enrich uranium at the research center in Fordow, which is hidden under mountains and where Iran was not allowed to conduct any high-level enrichment. "At the Fordow facility, Iran has tripled its enrichment capacity," he warned, adding that overall, the number of underground centrifuges in Iran has doubled over the past year and that it has the ability to break out toward a bomb – enrich enough uranium to 90% purity – rather quickly.
Video: Daniel Rees
At the beginning of his remarks, the defense minister said that "the biggest destabilizing factor in the Middle East is Iran." He went on to say, "Iran can lead to terrorism and an arms race. I believe that this can be prevented and the time for action is now. Iran threatens the world economy, and energy resources, affects food prices and trade, on freedom of navigation and stability in the Middle East. It is doing all of this now, if it has a nuclear umbrella this will worsen. Israeli intelligence indicates that Iran has made significant progress in its nuclear program."
Gantz stated that the international community must not accept a nuclear deal that would let Iran off the hook, amid reports of drafts being circulated in an attempt to overcome the various differences between the two sides.
"The entire international community should put operational, political and economic plans in place and not allow an agreement that does not significantly set Iran back. This mission should also be reflected in the activities of the UN Security Council," he stressed, referring to the various reports that Iran would be allowed to keep highly-enriched uranium under the deal.
In recent days, the International Atomic Energy Agency has warned that it could not guarantee the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, claiming there had been "no progress" in resolving questions over the presence of nuclear material at undeclared sites.
Tehran possesses IR-6 centrifuges capable of enriching uranium to at least 60 percent purity with experts warning that it could easily reach 90 percent needed for weapons-grade enrichment, despite the ongoing talks about the revival of the 2015 nuclear deal that was set to get Iran to limit its nuclear program in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions.
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i24NEWS contributed to this report.
