BBC News video clip about the US and Iran talk nuclear set follow and share
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00:00Iranian media says the director of the UN's nuclear watchdog has arrived in Tehran to speak
00:05to its officials ahead of nuclear talks with the US. It comes just hours after Rafael Grossi told
00:11the French newspaper Le Monde that Iran is not far from developing a nuclear weapon. But he
00:16stressed that the IAEA was not party to US negotiations on Iran's nuclear program. The
00:23next round is due to take place in Rome on Saturday. Iran has insisted its right to continue
00:29enriching uranium is non-negotiable. Let's speak to former British Army officer and NATO commander
00:35Hamish de Breton-Gordon. He's also a chemical weapons expert. Hamish, thanks very much for being
00:39with us. What do you make of what is reported in Le Monde from Rafael Grossi that Iran is not far
00:47from having that capacity? Well, in technical terms, Senior Grossi is correct. We know that
00:57since the treaty was suspended by Trump in his first term in office, that the Iranians have
01:03continued to enrich uranium. We believe they have about 300 kilograms at a level of about 60%. You
01:12need it at 90% to make it as a viable nuclear material. That would probably only take them weeks
01:19or months. And they've probably got enough for about 17 warheads. However, having said that,
01:26it's not an insignificant task to turn a warhead into something that you can put on a missile and
01:32fire. We know the Iranians have got missiles, but we've already seen that their missiles have been
01:38easily interdicted by the Americans and the Israelis. First of all, I think the thing to say is,
01:43you know, a non-nuclear Iran is really what the whole world wants. We've seen the malign influence
01:49of their proxies like the Houthis and Hezbollah around the world. So what Senior Grossi doing is
01:57a good thing. And hopefully, the Americans can convince the Iranians to stop enriching uranium and
02:05going towards a nuclear program. Because we've already heard Trump saying that he would take those
02:12research facilities out. And it is fairly clear that he could do that if he so desired.
02:18And that sounds like a very extreme and potentially worrying response, doesn't it?
02:25Well, absolutely. I think the Americans are really putting their cards on the table.
02:30I think Iran is much diminished since the Americans and the Israelis have pretty much written off the
02:38Houthis and Hezbollah. And Iran is desperate to remain sort of a key player on the world stage and
02:45sees that nuclear is the only way to do that. However, they're also, I'm sure, well aware of the ability
02:52of the Americans and potentially the Israelis to stop their nuclear program. And hopefully, the Americans
02:59can persuade them in these series of meetings, the next one, as you say, on Saturday in Rome,
03:06to prevent the Americans and others having to take demonstrative action to do that.
03:13President Trump did pull out of the previous nuclear deal between Iran and others in 2018,
03:20negotiated by Barack Obama over a very long period of time, complex technical talks.
03:26What do you think the likelihood is of this administration being able to embark on something
03:32similar?
03:34Well, it appears that the Trump administration are taking a slightly different approach,
03:39as we've seen they have to the war in Ukraine and elsewhere. Now, the original treaty, as you say,
03:47arranged by Barack Obama, was really doing what it was supposed to do to limit Iran's ability to
03:55develop official material that they could use in a nuclear bomb. And had that continued,
04:00one assumes that they would be no closer to making a nuclear bomb than they are now.
04:07However, having said that, Trump has a different approach. And we have seen that he's been successful
04:14in nullifying the Houthi threat down in Yemen. And this might well be successful. But of course,
04:21one would hope that a treaty and negotiation is the best way to reduce the threat of an Iranian
04:28nuclear weapon, rather than actually conflict that could spiral further conflict in the region.
04:35Hey, Mr. Bretton-Borden, thank you very much indeed for your time today.
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