Speaking at the INSS conference, Hayman, the think tank’s managing director, was asked about Burns’ statement that since Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has not given a formal order to go for a nuclear weapon, the nuclear threat was still far off.
In contrast, the former IDF intelligence chief said he disagreed with the idea that “if you don’t identify an order from the top, that is a sign that there is no [nuclear weapons] plan. Even if there is no formal paperwork, things continue.”
Rather, Hayman said that Burns’ statement showed a common Western misunderstanding of the Iranian mentality which does not always move in a linear fashion to achieve its goals, but might take a much more zigzagging and roundabout-looking path.
“This is a much more Eastern strategy. We can’t just go based on once we see an order from Iran’s supreme leader that only then will we see a nuclear” weapon. READ MORE
