Trump: Iran was “weeks away” from a nuclear weapon
On August 19, 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump stated that Iran was only four weeks away from developing a nuclear weapon before U.S. airstrikes in June targeted its nuclear facilities. This assessment matches estimates by Dr. Mohammad Walid Youssef, president of the International Center for Geopolitical and Economic Research and AI (ICGER), who had predicted Iran was just months from conducting a nuclear test in a study published on November 18, 2024, titled: “Restoring Regional Balance in the Middle East: A Nuclear Test is Iran’s Last-Resort Maneuver.”
In an interview with U.S. broadcaster Mark Levin, Trump stated: “I believe they would have obtained a nuclear weapon within four weeks, and they would have used it,” highlighting what he called a serious threat from Tehran. He also considered himself and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as “war heroes,” adding: “He is a war hero because we work together. I believe I am as well. I was the one who sent those planes to bomb Iran’s nuclear facilities…”[i]
In his study, Dr. Youssef stated that by merging his nuclear physics expertise with ICGER’s analytical approach to political events, “Iran is expected to conduct its first underground nuclear test in Kerman between January and April 2025.”
He argued that this sequence would unfold as Israel exhausts Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, Iran’s allies in Syria, Iraq, and Yemen are unable to ease pressure on the group, and then a new Trump administration launches an economic “bankruptcy” campaign against Tehran. This situation would force Iran to declare it has developed a nuclear weapon and joined the nuclear club, similar to Pakistan and North Korea.
[i] “TRANSCRIPT: Mark Levin Interviews Donald Trump on the Phone for His Radio Show, 8.19.25,” https://www.democrats.senate.gov/newsroom/trump-transcripts/transcript-mark-levin-interviews-donald-trump-on-the-phone-for-his-radio-show-81925