Israel Reportedly Found Out Iran Was Researching How To Build Triggering System For Nuclear Weapons

Israel reportedly found out that Iran was conducting renewed research on a triggering system used in nuclear weapons before conducting its attack on the country last week.

The Wall Street Journal detailed on Tuesday that U.S. officials, however, did not conclude that the development meant that Tehran had decided to build a bomb. Israelis disagreed, creating a gap in both countries' assessment of the situation.

The U.S. claimed that its intelligence showed that Iran was still on a research phase, revisiting work it had done before its program shut down in 2023. Israel, in turn, also mentioned that Iran had been working on neutron particles used to generate a chain reaction and integration of fissile material in an explosive device, the outlet added.

However, both agreed that Tehran has taken steps toward a potential bomb even though the country insists it seeks to use nuclear energy for peaceful. The piece added that U.S. estimates showed it would take Iran between one and two weeks to produce enough uranium for a weapon, and that it could build it months later.

However, the consensus was that the country had not made the decision to build a bomb. The assessment was voiced by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard in March.

Speaking before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence back then, Gabbard said "the IC continues to assess that Iran is not building a nuclear weapon and Supreme Leader Khamenei has not authorized the nuclear weapons program that he suspended in 2023," Gabbard said back then. "We continue to monitor closely if Tehran decides to reauthorize its nuclear weapons program."

President Donald Trump, however, dismissed the claim on Monday. Speaking to reporters aboard the Air Force One as he returned to the U.S. from the G-7 summit in Canada, Trump said "I don't care what she said, I think they were very close to having them."

Trump also reportedly left out Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard out of a key meeting to discuss the conflict between Israel and Iran earlier this month.

Concretely, Fox News' Peter Doocy detailed on Tuesday that Gabbard was not invited to the meetings that took place at Camp David on June 8 and were attended by high-ranking officials and top military brass.

"We can report via a US official that DNI Tulsi Gabbard was not invited to last week's camp David retreat where President Trump convened senior national security officials to discuss the Middle East. She had a scheduling conflict with National Guard orders, but was never invited in the first place," Doocy reported, according to a social media post by Fox News' Chief National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin.