Iran was mere weeks away from completing a nuclear weapon when the current war began, according to retired Admiral Eliezer "Cheney" Marom, the former commander of the Israeli Navy, in comments reported by Maariv on Wednesday. Speaking to 103FM in remarks carried by Maariv, Marom said the war has significantly disrupted Iran's nuclear progress, but cautioned that the underlying threat is far from resolved.
According to Maariv's report, Marom said building a nuclear bomb is a genuinely complex undertaking, and that the Iranians were very close when the war began, adding that the disruption to that progress was a welcome development. Marom went further, telling Maariv that Israeli and American intelligence agencies, along with the International Atomic Energy Agency, all assess unambiguously that Iran was only weeks away from a completed weapon, not months or years.
A Warning About Motivation, Not Just Capability
Despite the setback to Iran's program, Marom warned against complacency, telling Maariv that Iranian motivation to acquire a nuclear weapon has only intensified as a result of the war. He said the Iranians have drawn one clear lesson from the entire conflict: that everything would look different had they already possessed a nuclear weapon, and that this thinking has pushed Iranian motivation to the highest possible level. Marom told Maariv he sees only one way to permanently prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, and that is regime change in Tehran.
Why Even American Bunker Busters May Not Be Enough
Much of the public conversation has centered on Pickaxe Mountain, Kuh-e Kolang Gaz La, the fortified underground site, but Marom raised doubts about whether even American bombs can penetrate it. He explained that granite is an extremely hard mineral, and that a facility built into it more than 100 meters underground may simply be beyond the current capability of American munitions to reach, according to Maariv. He told Maariv he had personally visited a comparable underground facility in another country during his military service, and said that nation holds an enormous underground reserve of ordnance at similar depth.
The Stockpile He Says Should Worry Israel More
Still, Marom said the fortified mountain site is not necessarily the most concerning part of the picture. Iran has already enriched uranium to varying levels, including tons of uranium enriched to 5 percent and 20 percent, along with the widely reported 440 kilograms enriched to 60 percent, a stockpile Marom described to Maariv as measured in tons and extremely difficult to track or monitor.
Maariv's report frames Marom's comments as a reminder that even after weeks of strikes aimed at setting back Iran's nuclear infrastructure, the material Iran has already produced, not just the facilities housing it, may represent the harder and more urgent problem for Israel and its allies to solve.
