Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps launched a Ghaem-100 ballistic missile (Image: MNA)
Donald Trump’s ”maximum pressure” campaign on Iran will do much to hamper its progress on developing the nuclear bomb, experts have warned.
It follows revelations that the Islamic regime has been secretly developing its nuclear programme at two additional sites, as it fights a race against time to mate nuclear warheads to ballistic missiles.
Crucially, it is focusing on its Ghaem-100 missile, a solid-fuel weapon with a range of more than 1,800 miles -more than enough to hit .
The US President signed a memorandum to reimpose harsh sanctions which he had originally set down during his first term, but which had largely remained unenforced by President Biden who wanted to renegotiate a return to the 2015 nuclear deal which Trump had unilaterally withdrawn from.
Iran earned £42 billion from oil exports in 2023, and £43 billion a year earlier, according to US Energy Information Administration estimates, and output during 2024 was believed to be running at its highest since 2018.
But Trump’s ‘maximum pressure “ policy had driven Iran’s oil exports to near-zero towards the end of his first term.
The expected imposition of secondary sanctions against oil exports to China – now Iran’s biggest market- is expected to mitigate the vast gains Tehran has enjoyed since its alliance with Beijing has taken hold.
They will also send a clear message to India , which in 2023 bought £1 billion worth of Iranian crude.
While remains the main target for Iran’s nuclear weapons programme, the real purpose is to offer a deterrence to Israeli – and even US – airstrikes and offset any chance of enforced regime change.
Iran’s ballistic missile programme was believed to have suffered a major setback following Israeli air strikes on Iran’s Parchin military complex on October 26.
The attacks destroyed the regime’s ability to manufacture the solid fuel needed to fly its missiles, the facility which mates together warheads and missiles, and the factories used to manufacture Iran’s Shahed-136 drone.
President Trump Signs Executive Orders At White House (Image: Getty)
Trump has offered to speak to Iran Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei (Image: Iranian Leader’s Press Office )
The Ghaem-100 can easily reach Israel (Image: Sky news)
But new evidence from opposition group the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) suggests Iran has been conducting work at two additional sites.
Both the Shahroud Space Center and the Khomeini Spaceport in Semnanare run by Iran’s Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), the regime’s top nuclear weapons research entity.
But new evidence from opposition group the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI) suggests Iran has been conducting work at two additional sites.
Both the Shahroud Space Center and the Khomeini Spaceport in Semnanare run by Iran’s Organisation of Defensive Innovation and Research (SPND), the regime’s top nuclear weapons research entity.
The revelation have added two additional targets for the Israeli Air Force which, in October, also destroyed the sophisticated Russian S-300 air defence systems placed to defend Iran’s important oil exporting facilities.
Trump described the policy as very tough.
“With me, it’s very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he said. Asked how close Tehran is to a achieving its goal, Trump replied: “They’re too close.”
However, he said he remained open to a deal with Iran and expressed a willingness to talk to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini.
Last night Megan Sutcliffe, Sibylline, said: “President Trump’s announcement will certainly hamper Iran’s capability to advance its nuclear programme in a dollar sense, but we should not expect it to spell the end of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“ That said, will be waiting to see their economic effect before considering any further military action.”
The revelation have added two additional targets for the Israeli Air Force which, in October, also destroyed the sophisticated Russian S-300 air defence systems placed to defend Iran’s important oil exporting facilities.
Trump described the policy as very tough.
“With me, it’s very simple: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon,” he said. Asked how close Tehran is to a achieving its goal, Trump relied: “They’re too close.”
However, he said he remained open to a deal with Iran and expressed a willingness to talk to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini.
Last night Megan Sutcliffe, Sibylline, said: “President Trump’s announcement will certainly hamper Iran’s capability to advance its nuclear programme in a dollar sense, but we should not expect it to spell the end of Iran’s nuclear ambitions.
“That said, will be waiting to see their economic effect before considering any further military action.”