US intel sees Iran’s new leader as more open to a nuclear bomb
Why it matters: the assessment could bolster President Donald Trump’s case for escalating the US military campaign against Iran.
US intelligence agencies assess that Iran’s new supreme leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, is more willing than his father to pursue a nuclear weapon, according to officials briefed on the findings. The assessment comes as President Donald Trump weighs whether to intensify the US campaign against Iran during the current war with Israel. Officials cautioned that much of the intelligence on Mojtaba Khamenei’s views predates the war, and they said Tehran has not restarted its nuclear program. But Iran has taken steps to preserve nuclear assets after US strikes in 2025, including moving at least some centrifuges to a fortified underground site in central Iran known to the United States as Pickaxe Mountain.