On June 8 (local time), according to The Times of Israel, former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said that the US and Israel once had the ability to remove enriched uranium from Iran, a move that he believed could slow down Tehran's nuclear program by about 30 years.
Speaking on Israeli Army Radio, Mr. Gallant said that this is the most effective option to achieve the goal of preventing Iran's nuclear program.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and the US military have enough capacity to directly remove enriched uranium from Iran," he said.
According to Mr. Gallant, the problem is not in nuclear facilities or centrifuges, but in the amount of uranium that has been enriched and Iran has accumulated over the years.
In the nuclear development process, natural uranium must undergo a complex and prolonged enrichment process to increase the content of uranium-235 isotopes. This is an important material serving both civilian nuclear programs and the ability to make nuclear weapons.
Mr. Gallant believes that the medium and high amount of enriched uranium today is the result of decades of investment, research and operation of Iran's nuclear system.
The amount of uranium enriched at a high and medium level is the result of about 30 years of effort. If this material is removed from Iran, it means pushing them back 30 years," he said.
According to the argument of the former Israeli Defense Minister, even if nuclear facilities still exist, the loss of enriched uranium will force Iran to restart a significant part of the nuclear material accumulation process - a stage considered the most time-consuming, costly and resource-consuming.
Mr. Gallant also said that the core goal of military operations against Iran is to prevent this country from continuing to get closer to military nuclear capabilities.
His comments were made in the context that Iran's nuclear program continues to be one of the most controversial security issues in the Middle East.
Israel has long accused Tehran of pursuing the possibility of making nuclear weapons, while Iran affirms that its nuclear program only serves peaceful and civilian purposes.
Currently, Iran has not commented on Mr. Gallant's statement.
