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Iran May Be on the Verge of a Nuclear Weapon; Will Israel and the United States Act?
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian attend a ceremony to sign an agreement of comprehensive strategic partnership between the two countries, at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Jan. 17, 2025. Photo: Sputnik/Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Pool via REUTERS
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu just met in Washington — and not a moment too soon. A team of scientists in Iran is reportedly working to short-cut Tehran’s route to nuclear weapons in case the Iranian leadership orders their complete construction.
Trump and Netanyahu have a narrow window to stop Iran if it opts to build those weapons. The US and Israel must urgently review and revamp their intelligence gathering and sabotage capabilities, while preparing military options to jointly destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities should it sprint for atomic weapons.
According to current and former US officials who spoke to The New York Times on February 3, during the waning months of Joe Biden’s administration, unnamed countries — likely the United States and Israel — gathered intelligence indicating “a secret team of [Iranian] scientists is exploring a faster, if cruder, approach to developing an atomic weapon if Tehran’s leadership decides to race for a bomb.”
These findings track with an Axios report from November quoting a US official who said that Iran had been “conduct[ing] scientific activity that could lay the ground for the production of a nuclear weapon. It was a top secret thing. A small part of the Iranian government knew about this, but most of the Iranian government didn’t.”
What is this so-called “crude” nuclear device that Iran might seek in a hurry, compared to a regular nuclear weapon?
Such a device, built more quickly, may lack the functionality assurances provided by a lengthier nuclear-weapon assembly time. This assembly process, known as “weaponization,” entails key scientific and engineering work that enables the production of a functioning nuclear bomb that integrates a uranium fissile core, a triggering mechanism, and explosives.
To short-cut its way to nuclear weapons, Tehran may even fuel a crude weapon with highly-enriched uranium (HEU) in lieu of the preferred weapons-grade uranium. While this would make Iran’s nuclear weapons larger and heavier, it would serve the purpose of establishing Tehran as nuclear-armed.
At last count, Iran had enough HEU for almost five nuclear weapons, and enough enriched uranium overall, if enriched further, for at least 16 weapons.
How fast could Iran weaponize its nuclear material?
Tehran could likely construct a crude device within six months of starting, only moving its enriched uranium stocks to a secret site for subsequent enrichment and/or weaponization around the four-month mark. Relocating those stocks would trigger international alarm bells, since the material remains under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. Yet unless the United States and Israel detect Tehran near day one of a six-month breakout to the bomb, they may just have weeks to stop Iran after the fuel goes missing.
To target Iran’s nuclear plants militarily, Washington and Jerusalem require exact intelligence about where Iran might be constructing nuclear weapons. A facility located deep underground raises additional obstacles, even for bunker-busting bombs.
If the United States and Israel were unable to stop Tehran, Iran could quickly declare itself a nuclear power, possibly issuing photos to the world and only later conducting a demonstration test.
What’s more, Iran knows well how to build nuclear weapons, having spent nearly three decades — from 1985 on — acquiring and then mastering the technology.
Under Tehran’s late 1990s to mid-2003 nuclear weapons program known as the Amad Plan, the regime set out to construct an initial five nuclear bombs and ready the capability to test them.
However, in 2002, opposition groups and non-governmental organizations detected Iran’s covert nuclear facilities. The possibility that the United States, under the George W. Bush administration, might invade Iran based on Tehran’s efforts to seek weapons of mass destruction — as America had done in neighboring Iraq — likely caused the regime to downsize the Amad Plan’s weaponization activities.
However, Iran planned to continue progressing some weaponization activities for a rainy day, while openly progressing its production of fuel.
Today, the IAEA has never been able to issue an all-clear that Tehran’s nuclear program is devoted to peaceful uses, as Iran obfuscates and maintains secrecy over past and ongoing activities.
Signs have periodically emerged of an ongoing weaponization effort, but the US intelligence community assessed, until at least July 2024, that Tehran maintained the Amad Plan’s halt. In early 2024, Israel and the United States reportedly acquired intelligence pointing to new Iranian weaponization-related activities.
During an October 2024 strike on Iran in retaliation for a missile attack, Israel destroyed a site known as Taleghan 2, where some of these alleged activities were taking place.
Facing Israel’s decimation of its proxies in Lebanon, Syria, and Gaza, lacking the means to defend its air space, and confronting an inability to quickly build new missiles since Jerusalem’s strike, the regime in Iran knows it is more vulnerable than ever — and is likely eager to have a plan to quickly acquire a nuclear deterrent.
Trump and Netanyahu have a historic chance to stop Iran once and for all.
They should immediately evaluate and enhance intelligence gathering and related operations aimed at detecting Iranian efforts to build nuclear weapons. They should ready sabotage operations to stop these efforts. Both countries have used sabotage in the past — namely cyber-attacks, supply chain disruption, and explosives — to successfully disrupt and deter Tehran’s nuclear progress at key facilities.
In addition, the two countries should hold a new round of Juniper Oak military exercises, the last of which were held more than two years ago. These exercises showcase their ability to jointly destroy Iran’s nuclear facilities and could help deter a breakout by the regime before it starts.
Washington and Jerusalem should also enhance the interoperability of such a mission. In particular, the United States should allow Israel to practice refueling its fighter jets using American KC-46 refueling aircraft while Israel awaits US deliveries of KC-46 refueling aircraft to replace Jerusalem’s aging fleet.
Tehran may be desperate and poised to acquire the ultimate deterrent — a move that successive administrations in Washington and Jerusalem have said they will never tolerate.
Trump and Netanyahu may soon have to enforce that threat.
Andrea Stricker is a research fellow and deputy director of the Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD). Follow her on X @StrickerNonpro. FDD is a Washington, DC-based, nonpartisan research institute focused on national security and foreign policy.
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Irish Rap Group Kneecap Vows to Fight Terrorism Charge Over Band Member’s Alleged Hezbollah Support
Members of Kneecap pose on the red carpet at the Irish Film and Television Academy (IFTA) Awards in Dublin, Ireland, Feb. 14, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Clodagh Kilcoyne
A member of Irish hip hop trio Kneecap has been charged with a terrorism offense in the United Kingdom for displaying a flag in support of the Hezbollah terrorist organization, London’s Metropolitan Police said on Wednesday.
Liam O’Hanna, 27, of Belfast has been charged with displaying a flag “in support of Hezbollah, a proscribed organization” following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police’s Counter Terrorism Command.
The charge is related to a flag that O’Hanna displayed during a Kneecap concert in November 2024 at the O2 Forum in London. The Metropolitan Police said the musician displayed the flag “in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that he is a supporter of a proscribed organization, namely Hezbollah,” in violation of the UK’s Terrorism Act of 2000.
“Officers from the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command were made aware on Tuesday, April 22 of an online video from the event. An investigation was carried out, which led to the Crown Prosecution Service authorizing the above charge,” police said in a statement. O’Hanna is due to appear at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on June 18.
Kneecap said in a statement on X they believe the terrorism charge is an effort “to prosecute artists who dare speak out.” The trio claimed O’Hanna displayed a flag that had been thrown on stage, and did not mention Hezbollah by name even once in their lengthy statement.
“We deny this ‘offense’ and will vehemently defend ourselves,” Kneecap said. “This is political policing. This is a carnival of distraction. We are not the story. Genocide is. … We are on the right side of history. You are not. We will fight you in court. We will win. Free Palestine.”
In their statement, the group also condemned the British government for supporting Israel and claimed British leaders “have abetted slaughter and famine in Gaza, just as they did in Ireland for centuries.”
“The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] units they arm and fly spy plane missions for are the real terrorists,” they claimed.
The Algemeiner previously reported that counter-terrorism police in the UK were investigating the band from Northern Ireland after videos emerged online that showed a Kneecap member shout “up Hamas, up Hezbollah” while having a Hezbollah flag draped over his shoulder during the 2024 concert in London. Hezbollah and Hamas are designated by the UK as terrorist organizations, and it is illegal in the country to express support for the two Iran-backed Islamist groups.
Counter-terrorism police were also investigating footage from a 2023 Kneecap concert in which a band member called for the killing of British Members of Parliament [MPs]. A Kneecap member had shouted on stage: “The only good Tory is a dead Tory. Kill your local MP.” Two British MPs, Jo Cox and David Amess, have been murdered in the last 10 years.
In April, Kneecap apologized to the families of Cox and Amess in a released statement and said they have never supported Hamas or Hezbollah. The trio claimed videos from their concerts in 2023 and 2024 have been “deliberately taken out of all context” as part of a “smear campaign” against the group because of its criticism of Israel’s military actions in the Gaza Strip during the Israel-Hamas war. Kneecap has been publicly critical of Israel on social media and on stage during their concerts.
During the band’s set at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in April, Kneecap projected on the backdrop of their stage messages that said “F–k Israel, Free Palestine” and “Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people.” They also led the crowd at Coachella to chant “Free, Free Palestine.”
A number of their scheduled performances at music festivals this summer have been canceled by organizers because of the band’s controversial comments. Organizers of the Glastonbury Festival scheduled for June are also facing increasing pressure from British politicians and members of the entertainment industry to remove Kneecap from its lineup of performers. The UK’s Communities Minister Gordon Lyons said on Monday he thinks the UK and Irish governments should “consider their actions” in relation to providing any funding to Kneecap.
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Campus Antisemitism Film by Rapper Kosha Dillz Gets New Release Date After Chicago Venue Cancels Screening
Israeli-American rapper Kosha Dillz performs his new song “Bring the family home,” his response to Hamas’s attacks, in front of a Jewish bakery in lower Manhattan, US, Oct. 11, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Aleksandra Michalska.
An arts theater and non-profit organization in Chicago that supports independent films has rescheduled a screening of a documentary about campus antisemitism by Israeli-American rapper and comedian Kosha Dillz after abruptly canceling the event due to security concerns and out of “an abundance of caution.”
The filmmaker and activist, whose real name is Rami Matan Even-Esh, told The Algemeiner on Wednesday night that after discussions with the venue Facets, the screening of his film “Bring the Family Home” has been rescheduled for June 22. Facets apologized on May 16 for initially canceling the screening that was scheduled for three days earlier.
“Facets Film Forum respects the First Amendment, its protection of free speech and the right to express views through film,” board co-chairs Rich Moskal and Tamara Bohorquez said in a released statement. “We regret any unintended offense our decision to cancel a privately organized, public film screening caused the filmmaker, those seeking to attend the event, and members of our community who have experienced or witnessed oppression or discrimination in any form.”
Established in 1975, Facets is a non-profit organization that focuses on independent film exhibition, distribution, and education, according to its website. It rents out its venue in Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood for private screenings and other events.
“Bring the Family Home” is a work-in-progress documentary about the explosion of antisemitism on US college campuses after the Hamas terrorist attack on Oct. 7, 2023, in southern Israel. The film features first-hand accounts of Jewish students who have experienced tensions, exclusion, and violence at their schools. Kosha Dillz interviewed anti-Israel protesters on college campuses and was sometimes harassed and attacked in the process. The film largely focuses on anti-Israel encampments and sentiments at DePaul University and Northwestern University. Facets is located down the street from DePaul.
Kosha Dillz self-funded “Bring the Family Home,” which shares the same name as a song he released in response to the Oct. 7 attack and kidnappings. It is his first documentary film.
The filmmaker and the Chicago Jewish Alliance (CJA) together organized a premiere of an unfinished cut of the film at Facets on May 13. In a statement shared on Friday, Facets said it approved on April 18 a rental request to screen an unfinished version of the documentary at the downtown Chicago theater. The screening on May 13 was an opportunity to share the project with the community and also a chance to film the documentary’s final cut.
A mere three hours before the screening last week, however, Facets canceled the event. Kosha Dillz told The Algemeiner that Facets said the decision was made due to safety and security concerns. The venue said their patrons and staff would not “feel safe” if the scheduled event took place, the filmmaker also noted in a social media post. However, Kosha Dillz believes the screening was canceled for other reasons.
“[Facets] says ‘safety’ and ‘concern’ but ultimately it’s about someone who is Israel[i]/Jewish that has a different point of view but can’t share the same space,” he told The Algemeiner. “They got pressure and were not aware of how BDS [boycott, divestment, and sanctions]/cancellation campaigns work … and the more popular something becomes, the more likely this will happen. I simply didn’t think it’d happen to me either.”
“To get inundated with the calls and threats, I don’t actually blame them [for canceling the screening],” he added.
Before formally telling Kosha Dillz about the screening being canceled, Facets also removed the marquee outside the venue that advertised “Bring the Family Home” because the venue was receiving complaints about the signage, according to the filmmaker.
“Exclusion is the new form of bigotry,” said Kosha Dillz. “Facets decision to cancel this film under pressure speaks volumes about the silent discrimination that exists in spaces that claim to champion diverse perspectives.”
The Chicago Jewish Alliance posted a series of messages on social media condemning the venue’s decision and also published an open letter blasting Facets following the cancellation, saying that the move left many members of Chicago’s Jewish community “hurt and stunned.” CJA additionally launched an email campaign, urging supporters to send emails to the theater’s leadership about the cancellation. It accused Facets of antisemitism and claimed the venue is “silencing Jews.”
“You canceled a Jewish event because it made people uncomfortable. That is antisemitism,” CJA wrote in an Instagram post. “The film was literally called ‘Bring the Family Home,’ about restoring peace. And you chose fear over integrity.”
“Facets claims to champion diversity, equity, and inclusion. But those values seem to vanish when it comes to a proud, outspoken Jewish artist,” read the message that CJA drafted as part of its email campaign. “You didn’t cancel the film because of safety. You canceled it because of discomfort with Jewish visibility. This wasn’t just an inconvenience for dozens of attendees. It was a disgrace. And it sent a message loud and clear: Jewish advocacy is unwelcome at your theater.”
CJA claimed that Facets also blocked the Jewish group on social media. “This isn’t brave. It’s cowardice hiding behind a film reel,” the group wrote in a social media post. “You can’t claim to affirm our shared humanity while silencing our story.”
Facets explained in a released statement on May 16 that on the day of the screening, some community members contacted them and expressed “questions and concerns about the event.” Facets leadership added that while talking to Kosha Dillz when he arrived onsite for the screening earlier in the day, they were told that event organizers took a “precautionary step” and arranged private security for the film screening.
“However, as a very small nonprofit organization with limited staff, Facets determined that we were simply not prepared to provide the level of onsite staffing and coordination necessary to support that evening’s film screening,” the venue said. Facets explained that “in an abundance of caution,” it made the “difficult decision” to cancel the screening set to take place that night.
“In retrospect, we realize this was an overreaction and inconsistent with our mission,” Facets further noted. It concluded by saying that the leadership team at Facets is reviewing its “staffing protocols and training to ensure we are well-prepared to fulfill our commitment to support all future rental events.”
The venue posted a since-deleted statement on Instagram about the cancellation and said that it is “firmly not an antisemitic organization.”
“The cancellation of this event was not an act of antisemitism, but a decision rooted in our commitment to ensuring that hate has no place in our space. Based on the public posts made by Kosha Dillz and the overall tone surrounding the event, we determined that proceeding would not align with our values or our responsibility to protect the safety and well-being of our community,” Facets wrote in the post, without further elaborating about the specific issues it had with the event. “We reject antisemitism in all forms — just as we reject Islamophobia, anti-Palestinian racism, and any form of hate or dehumanization,” the venue also said in the now-deleted message.
Facets additionally claimed that its decision to cancel the screening “was made to uphold a safe, inclusive, and respectful environment for all who attend events at Facets.”
Kosha Dillz ended up premiering his documentary on May 13 at the Wilmette Theatre in the North Shore suburb of Chicago to a “packed house.” The screening was followed by a panel discussion and Q&A with the filmmaker and DePaul University student Michael Kaminsky, who was violently attacked and faced threats on campus for voicing support for Israel. Kaminsky appears in “Bring the Family Home.”
Both Facets and the Wilmette Theatre have screened “No Other Land,” an Oscar-winning documentary that is critical of Israel’s military actions in the West Bank and depicts the Jewish state as violent land grabbers and oppressors.
Kosha Dillz told The Algemeiner he is appreciative that Facets was open to having a dialogue about rescheduling the screening. “I am happy they are making it right and we are working through it,” he said.
“I think we are all handling it the best we can,” he added on Wednesday. “For myself, I can say it is difficult to handle as emotions are high for what I experienced. I don’t think we can force anyone to do anything. We offered to have a happy ending, and they agreed to screen our work in progress just as the[y] screen ‘No Other Land’ or another rental. Not sure we are gonna be best friends by tomorrow, but the collective gesture is symbolic in a world where people are othered and ostracized permanently.”
“We might be small compared to bigger theatres and filmmakers, but I think this is happening everywhere and people can refer to what we are doing to hold discussions,” he noted.
Facets did not respond to The Algemeiner‘s request for comment about the cancellation and rescheduling of the “Bring the Family Home” screening.
The Wilmette screening of “Bring the Family Home” will be featured in the documentary’s final cut, and the cancellation at Facets will also be documented in the film. Kosha Dillz plans to return to Chicago in the coming weeks to complete filming and speak with more students, and community members.
“We’re all on the same team of ‘let’s get along,’ ‘let’s stop the war,’ ‘let’s return the hostages,’” Kosha Dillz said in a released statement. “I just didn’t expect that message to be so radical that it would get me canceled at a 50-year-old institution for my very first film screening.”
Watch the trailer for “Bring the Family Home” below.
The post Campus Antisemitism Film by Rapper Kosha Dillz Gets New Release Date After Chicago Venue Cancels Screening first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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NYC Mayoral Candidate Zohran Mamdani Confronted by Pro-Palestinian Activists for Saying Israel Has ‘Right to Exist’
Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
Pro-Palestinian advocates confronted New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani this week over his recent affirmation of Israel’s right to exist, repudiating the left-wing politician over his “hypocritical” stance on the Jewish state.
While speaking on Tuesday at the launch party for Acacia Magazine, a new pro-Palestinian publication, an irate attendee donning a keffiyeh — a traditional Arab headdress that has been repurposed after the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel to symbolize support for the Palestinian cause— screamed at Mamdani for voicing support for Israel’s existence while simultaneously presenting himself as an advocate for the Palestinian cause.
“What do you say about politicians who constantly affirm Israel’s right to exist? Because people like me are constantly attacked by politicians for standing up for Palestine, and you are constantly defending the right for Israel to exist,” the man screamed at Mamdani, according to video of the incident posted to social media.
“My family is in Palestine right now, constantly under attack, and I’m hearing you say, ‘Free Palestine’ but also ‘Israel has a right to exist,’” the man continued.
The enraged attendee urged Mamdani not to “be hypocritical” by positioning himself as a pro-Palestinian advocate while continuing to support Israel’s existence.
“[Israel] does not have the right to exist! It does not have the right to exist! It’s not your land, to say it has the right to exist!” the man continued as audience members cheered around him.
Mamdani grinned and nodded along as the anonymous individual continued his diatribe against Israel’s existence.
Politicians like @ZohranKMamdani who seek our votes must be held accountable. Recently, he’s made the media rounds, repeatedly reaffirming “Israel’s right to exist” — a phrase long used to justify the ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing, and dehumanization of Palestinians. No… pic.twitter.com/l2f52yVtsj
— Anas Saleh انس صالح (@AnasSaleh_NYC) May 21, 2025
Anas Saleh, a pro-Palestinian activist, posted the video on X/Twitter with a caption questioning Mamdani’s commitment to the pro-Palestinian cause.
“No candidate, progressive or otherwise, gets a pass when they echo Zionist talking points that attempt [to] erase our suffering and deny our right to return, resist, and live in freedom,” Saleh wrote.
The confrontation came after Mamdani last Friday said, “I do support [Israel’s] right to exist as a state,” in response to a question.
NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, this morning, following story that he declined to sign onto Assembly resolutions recognizing Israel’s independence and condemning the Holocaust:
“I do support [Israel’s] right to exist as a state.” pic.twitter.com/OAmARZpyVX
— Jacob N. Kornbluh (@jacobkornbluh) May 16, 2025
Mamdani, a representative within the New York State Assembly and candidate for New York City mayor, has made anti-Israel activism a cornerstone of his political career. A self-described democratic socialist, he has both advanced state legislation seeking to punish Israel and has labeled the Jewish state’s defensive military operations in Gaza a “genocide.”
In 2021, Mamdani issued public support for the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement —an initiative which seeks to economically and diplomatically isolate Israel in the first step to its eventual destruction. In May 2023, Mamdani advanced the “Not on our dime!: Ending New York Funding of Israeli Settler Violence Act,” legislation which would ban charities from using tax-deductible donations to aid organizations that work in the West Bank.
On Oct. 8, 2023, 24 hours following the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust, Mamdani published a statement condemning Israel Prime Minister Benjamin “Netanyahu’s declaration of war” and suggesting that Israel would use the terror attacks to justify committing a second “nakba.”
Many Palestinians and anti-Israel activists use the term “nakba,” or “catastrophe,” to refer to the establishment of the modern state of Israel in 1948.
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