The Senate Foreign Relations Committee held a hearing Thursday on reversing Iran's nuclear program. Under Secretary of State Wendy Sherman was asked about how much time was left on Iran’s nuclear clock. Sherman stated, "We do not believe he [Ali Khamenei] has yet made that fundamental decision but wants to put the pieces in place that give him that option -- it could take as much as a year before he got there."
Below is a transcript of the exchange:
SEN. MENENDEZ: Let's assume -- OK. So let's assume that Mr. Albright's assessment is right. I'm not saying you -- well, for argument's sake let's assume his assessment is right. If that assessment is right, then your time frame for definitive action is relatively short.
MS. SHERMAN: We believe that we have some time but we don't have a lot of time. I would agree with that statement. I would also say that what we have said publicly is from the time that the Supreme Leader decides that he truly wants to go for a nuclear weapon, and we do not believe he has yet made that fundamental decision but wants to put the pieces in place that give him that option -- it could take as much as a year before he got there.