Blinken: Iran just weeks away from a nuclear weapon, blocking Palestinian State

Shafaq News/ On Friday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Iran of obstructing the establishment of a Palestinian state, pointing to its ability to manufacture a nuclear weapon.

"Iran, because the nuclear agreement was thrown out, instead of being at least a year away from having the breakout capacity of producing fissile material for a nuclear weapon, is now probably one or two weeks away from doing that," Blinken said at a forum in Colorado, specifying that the country still had not developed a weapon,” Blinken said.

Blinken reaffirmed that the US will not permit Iran to develop a nuclear weapon, yet continues to favor diplomatic measures to prevent this scenario.

“What we need to see, if Iran is serious about engaging, is actually pulling back on the work that it’s been doing on his program.”

“Second, we have been maximizing pressure on Iran across the board. We’ve imposed more than 600 sanctions on Iranian persons and entities. We haven’t lifted a single sanction,” he asserted.

Regarding the war in Gaza, he stated that Iran and Hamas are working to obstruct the two-state solution, referring to the establishment of a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Blinken, speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado, said, “Hamas and Israel had agreed to the ceasefire framework outlined by US President Joe Biden in May after a lot of pushing and diplomacy, but some issues need to be resolved,” adding, “We're in the midst of doing exactly that.”

"I believe we're inside the 10-yard line and driving toward the goal line in getting an agreement that would produce a ceasefire, get the hostages home and put us on a better track to trying to build lasting peace and stability," he pointed out.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to visit Washington next week and speak before a joint session of the U.S. Congress on July 24. The White House stated on Thursday that President Biden plans to meet with him, contingent on the president's recovery from COVID-19.

Blinken, when questioned about Netanyahu's visit, stated that Washington aims to finalize the ceasefire agreement, emphasizing the importance of having a clear plan for subsequent steps, and suggesting that conversations with Netanyahu would probably focus on this issue.