How long would it take Iran to develop nuclear weapons? That’s the question analysts and policymakers have been sweating bullets over for years. The answer impacts nothing less than the world’s risk of heading into a nuclear World War iii.

On April 22, we got an answer.

Javad Karimi Ghodousi, member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Committee, tweeted the following: “If the permission is issued, it is one week before the first test.”

Some analysts estimate Iran has enough 60 percent-enriched uranium to form three nuclear warheads. Ninety percent is considered weapons grade, but it wouldn’t take much to process the final enrichment, and 60 percent-enriched uranium has no known civilian usage. Iran’s advanced ballistic missile program can carry warheads. And now, according to a knowledgeable member of Iran’s government, Iran can test its first nuke in a week’s time.

Does this sound like bluster from one man not representative of the rest of the government? Ali Akbar Salehi, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran from 2013 to 2021, gave an interview on February 11 to Nasim tv. “We have [crossed] all the scientific and technological nuclear thresholds,” he said. “Let me give you an example. What does it take to make a car? You need a chassis, an engine, a wheel, a gearbox. … If you are asking me if we built the gearbox and the engine, my answer is yes. Each part has its own role.”

Salehi basically said the same thing as Ghodousi: Iran has all the components necessary to make a nuclear bomb. In essence, it has a dissembled nuclear bomb at hand. All Iran has to do is put all the parts together.

On April 25, Ghoudousi made another announcement. He claimed in a video that Iran could further enrich its 60 percent-enriched uranium stock to 90 percent in half a day.

All this comes as Iran and Israel exchanged tit-for-tat attacks amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Israel assassinated an important Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (irgc) general on April 1. Iran responded with a barrage of over 300 projectiles on Israel on April 13. Israel struck an Iranian air defense system guarding nuclear sites on April 19.

Compare this with what Maj. Gen. Ahmad Haghtalab, leader of the irgc’s protection of nuclear sites, told Iranian media right before the Israeli strike: “If the fake Zionist regime [Israel] wants to use a threat to attack our country’s nuclear centers as a means to put pressure on Iran, it would be possible and foreseeable to revise Iran’s nuclear doctrine and policies and deviate from the previously declared considerations.”

Israel’s strike may become the casus belli Haghtalab hinted at.

For so many insiders to publicly brag about Iran’s nuclear capabilities at such a tense geopolitical moment says something in and of itself. If Iran were still a ways from nuclear capability, this rhetoric could encourage another Israeli strike that would set back Iran even further. If all this talk were just bluster by lower-level people who don’t know what they’re talking about, wouldn’t the supreme leader or the president or another senior figure set the record straight?

The indication is that the words of Ghodousi, Salehi and others are correct. Iran, for all intents and purposes, has an unassembled nuclear bomb ready to be put together.

But if this is the case, why hasn’t Iran put the bomb together? Ghodousi hinted that nobody has received “permission” to go ahead yet. That permission would ultimately come from Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Why hasn’t he given it yet?

The same day Ghodousi tweeted his threat, Iran’s Shargh newspaper reported nuclear talks have started again with America. According to Shargh, Iranian ambassador to the United Nations Amir Saeed Iravani has been negotiating with the United States to resurrect the 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian confirmed talks occurred while he was in New York earlier this month.

After the U.S. withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018, it didn’t take long for Iran’s nuclear program to catch up to where it left off. Except Iran, at that point, was sitting on billions of dollars’ worth of sanctions relief. Billions it could spend on terrorist attacks like the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel. Billions it could funnel into nuclear facilities under the table. Iran may be looking for another inflow of funding.

Or it could be waiting until the results of U.S. elections in November. Making a public nuclear test so close to the election could swing the vote into Donald Trump’s favor. Trump was no friend of Iran during his first presidential term, and postponing a nuclear test may be Khamenei’s attempt to influence voters. If Trump does win, Khamenei could ramp up development and use a newly declared nuke as an insurance policy against a U.S. attack.

Whatever the case, Iran’s nuclear program is now no longer a question of “if” but “when.” And it looks like “when” may be too soon for comfort.

When people discuss nuclear proliferation, sometimes they use words such as “apocalypse” or “Armageddon.” Whether they realize it or not, they are using biblical terminology. And the Bible has a lot to say about Iran’s current trajectory.

A prophecy in the book of Daniel reads: “And at the time of the end shall the king of the south push at him: and the king of the north shall come against him like a whirlwind, with chariots, and with horsemen, and with many ships; and he shall enter into the countries, and shall overflow and pass over” (Daniel 11:40).

This end-time prophecy refers to two power blocs soon to clash: a king of the north and a king of the south. Biblical and secular history show the king of the north to be a uniting European power (see here for more information). The other power, to the south of Europe, has a “pushy,” provocative foreign policy. Verse 41 shows ground zero of the battleground is the “glorious land,” or the Holy Land. Verses 42 and 43 show the king of the south commands a massive proxy empire in the Middle East and North Africa. Since the 1990s, Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry has identified the king of the south as the Islamic Republic of Iran.

The prophecy continues into Daniel 12. Verse 1 reads: “And at that time … there shall be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation even to that same time ….” This correlates with other prophecies, like Matthew 24:21-22, which speak of an unparalleled time of suffering that, if left unchecked, “not a soul would be saved alive” (Moffatt translation). This is talking about a nuclear World War iii.

As the Prophet Daniel reveals, it all starts with a push by Iran. Nuclear weapons could give a pretty big push.

But there is hope. Matthew 24:22 concludes: “however, for the sake of the elect, those days will be cut short” (Moffatt). Daniel 12:1 finishes: “and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one that shall be found written in the book.”

Biblical prophecy’s ultimate fulfillment points to God setting up an era of peace after the global chaos. Until then, circumstances will get much worse before they get better. The onus is on the observer to be aware of what is happening and to act on it.

To learn more, request Mr. Flurry’s free booklet The King of the South.