Nuclear Iran
Nuclear IraniStock

The United States believes Iran's breakout time to producing enough highly enriched uranium for one nuclear weapon is now "really short" and alarming, a senior Biden administration official told reporters on Friday, according to Reuters.

The official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, did not have a precise time for the breakout, which has been estimated to be a matter of months.

"But it's really short. It is unacceptably short," the official said, calling it "alarming".

The official’s comments came as the remaining parties to the 2015 Iran nuclear met in Vienna to adjourn the talks on salvaging the deal.

The talks in Vienna resumed last week after a five-month pause following the election of Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi.

Iran has gradually scaled back its compliance with the 2015 nuclear deal it signed with world powers in response to former US President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement in May of 2018.

The Islamic Republic has repeatedly demanded that the US lift sanctions imposed on Iran and also reassure Iran it will not abandon the deal again as a precondition for its returning to compliance with the deal.

On Monday, diplomats from the western European countries negotiating with Tehran said that Iran's positions in the talks are "inconsistent" with the terms of the deal.

US officials have said that while they prefer the diplomatic route to reach an agreement with Iran, there are other options on the table should that fail.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki recently told reporters that the United States is preparing "additional measures" against Iran should the nuclear talks not succeed.

(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)