Pletka: Iran Could Make a Dirty Bomb Today

AEI Expert: Iranians are one month from rudimentary device, possibly year away from miniaturized weapon

Vice President for Foreign and Defense Policy at the American Enterprise Institute Danielle Pletka said Iran currently has the capacity to build a "dirty" nuclear bomb Wednesday in a House Foreign Affairs committee hearing.

Iran could produce a "rudimentary" bomb that could be delivered in the back of a truck or a bus in a month, Pletka said. A more complex miniaturized weapon with a delivery device, according to Pletka, could take the regime approximately one year to manufacture:

MO BROOKS: When will they have a usable nuclear weapon? So how much time in your best judgement?

MIKE DUBOWITZ: Well the open reporting that I’ve seen is 2014/2015.

BROOKS: Ms. Pletka?

DANIELLE PLETKA: I think the problem that we’re going to face answering your question is what you mean by a ‘usable nuclear weapon.’ If you mean a dirty bomb, they could do it today. If you mean a rudimentary nuclear device that can be delivered in the back of a truck or a bus, a month. If you mean a weapon miniaturized on a delivery vehicle that works successfully, longer; probably a year, maybe even longer than that.

Published under: Nuclear Weapons

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