Iranian state media has posted an ominous video to social media, appearing to show a mock nuclear weapon being stroked. The video, released by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), was accompanied by the one-word caption “Maybe.” The IRNA calls itself “the voice of the Islamic Republic of Iran in the Arab world” and is licensed by the Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance.
Its 17-second video shows a small dummy bomb with a nuclear symbol on it being stroked by a hand. It has currently been viewed a whopping 6.5 million times. Iran has not confirmed or denied whether it possesses nuclear weapons, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claims they are hiding the extent of their advancements.
For 30 years, he has claimed Tehran is on he verge of developing nuclear weapons – his reasoning for the ongoing missile strikes that have already killed nearly 600.
He said in 1992: “Within three to five years, we can assume that Iran will become autonomous in its ability to develop and produce a nuclear bomb.”
Then again in 2021: “By next spring, at most by next summer … they will have finished the medium enrichment and move on to the final stage.”
Most recently, Netanyahu narrowed the timeline down to months, even weeks. He said: “If not stopped, Iran could produce a nuclear weapon in a very short time.”
However, earlier this year, the US Director of National Intelligence said Iran was not building a nuclear weapon.
Israel, on the other hand, is estimated to possess between 90 and 400 nuclear warheads, the first of which is believed to have been completed in 1966 or 1967.
It maintains a policy of deliberate ambiguity, never officially confirming or denying having nuclear weapons, instead repeating over the years that “Israel will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons to the Middle East”.
However, in November 2023, the junior Heritage Minister Amihai Eliyahu publicly considered dropping a nuclear bomb over Gaza, which some took to be an admission that Israel possesses such a capability.
Netanyahu has since reprimanded and suspended the minister.