2026年5月9日 美国东部时间下午4:00 / 福克斯新闻
马克·莱文：武装伊朗人民，给他们对抗政权的机会
福克斯新闻主持人马克·莱文在《汉尼蒂》节目中评估了美伊冲突的现状。
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核武器专家敲响警钟，敦促特朗普政府在任何新协议中明确禁止伊朗利用其设施的钚制造原子弹。
本届政府和防扩散专家此前大多聚焦于伊朗伊斯兰共和国以铀为原料的核武器设施。德黑兰可能会利用这一监管盲区，秘密制造钚基核武器。
美国反对核伊朗（UANI）政策主任杰森·布罗斯基告诉福克斯新闻数字频道：“我确实认为，任何与伊朗的拟议协议都必须解决通往核武器的钚途径问题。以色列在过去一年里——2025年6月和2026年3月——两次袭击了阿拉克重水反应堆。情报显示，即便在遇袭后，伊朗仍多次试图重建该设施，因此与伊朗的任何协议都应涵盖钚途径。”
特朗普封锁施压过强，专家称伊朗政权可能向海湾倾倒石油
一张展示伊朗核设施清单的示意图，其中包括阿拉克重水反应堆和纳坦兹浓缩工厂。（防务基金会/福克斯新闻）
非扩散政策教育中心执行主任、前国防部防扩散政策副秘书长（1989-1993年）亨利·索科尔斯基表示，伊朗政权可能利用布什尔核电站乏燃料中的钚制造核武器。
他上月在《真实清晰防务》网站撰文指出：“华盛顿应确保伊朗不会转移布什尔核电站的乏燃料并提取钚。我们可以而且应该在不轰炸该核电站的情况下做到这一点。”
索科尔斯基写道：“五角大楼应留意，确保伊朗不会转移布什尔核电站的任何乏燃料。美方可以通过太空监视资产做到这一点，也可以像2012年那样使用无人机。其次，特朗普总统与德黑兰达成的任何‘和平’协议都应要求对布什尔反应堆和乏燃料池进行近乎实时的监控，就像国际原子能机构（IAEA）此前对伊朗浓缩铀活动实施的监控那样。”
一张展示伊朗阿拉克重水工厂的卫星图像。据报道，该工厂的存在于2002年12月曝光。重水可减缓核裂变链式反应，并可生产用于核弹的钚。（DigitalGlobe通过盖蒂图片社拍摄）
索科尔斯基在4月发表于《原子科学家公报》的另一篇文章中称，伊朗拥有的钚足以制造200多枚核弹。他表示：“国际原子能机构检查员上一次访问布什尔核电站是在2025年8月27日。即便该机构检查员能够常规进入该设施，他们也只是每90天到访一次——这足以让伊朗转移乏燃料，并可能将其制成核武器。”
他补充道：“即便国际原子能机构要求伊朗允许此类监控，奥巴马总统也没有坚持这一点。德黑兰当时拒绝了。”
国际原子能机构近期的报告并未具体提及通往核弹的钚途径。
特朗普称延长停火后伊朗“急需现金”“财政濒临崩溃”
伊朗总统马苏德·佩泽什基安于2025年11月1日访问伊朗德黑兰的核设施。（伊朗总统府/安纳多卢通讯社通过盖蒂图片社提供）
美国国务院发言人告诉福克斯新闻数字频道：“伊朗的核计划对美国和整个世界构成威胁。”
该发言人继续说道：“伊朗如今未能与国际原子能机构充分合作，违反了其《不扩散核武器条约》义务。伊朗领导层必须与美国进行认真的外交谈判，一劳永逸地解决核问题。”
物理学家、科学与国际安全研究所所长戴维·奥尔布赖特告诉福克斯新闻数字频道，他“高度怀疑伊朗会利用布什尔核电站乏燃料中的钚制造核武器”。
2024年4月29日的伊朗布什尔核电站。（莫尔塔扎·尼库巴兹/努尔照片通过盖蒂图片社拍摄）
这位前武器检查员奥尔布赖特辩称：“首先，伊朗需要一款尚未研发的设计方案。伊朗核档案中没有任何关于钚基核武器的内容。其次，从布什尔核电站转移乏燃料会被发现，无疑会导致俄罗斯暂停供应浓缩铀，进而使这项价值数十亿美元、为该地区提供电力的投资项目停工。第三，乏燃料中的钚几乎都是反应堆级钚，未必有武器级钚。”
奥尔布赖特补充道：“反应堆级钚可以用于制造核武器，但如果想要获得可观的爆炸当量，操作难度极大。”他还表示，特朗普的前国家安全顾问约翰·博尔顿“数十年来一直在强调这个问题，但这只是一种可能性极低的情况。布什政府最初就否决了这一方案”。
外界对伊朗的狡诈行径及其不惜一切代价制造核武器的目标仍存担忧。因此，有呼声要求在未来与美国的协议中，禁止伊朗进行钚后处理，并对伊朗的钚基础设施实施严格监控。
美国防务基金会防扩散与生物防御项目副主任安德里亚·斯特里克告诉福克斯新闻数字频道：“美国必须坚持在任何协议中，永久且经核查地禁止伊朗进行钚后处理。”
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一张以色列国防军（IDF）的信息图，展示伊朗的阿拉克重水工厂，该工厂被称为钚生产的关键基础设施。（以色列国防军）
斯特里克指出，俄罗斯也意识到了这一危险。“值得俄罗斯罕见地称赞的是，在2025年6月的袭击事件后，俄罗斯坚持让伊朗允许检查员重新进入布什尔核电站进行安保工作。这些检查于去年8月恢复。该反应堆生产的钚质量并不适合制造核武器，且伊朗自21世纪初以来就未将重心放在通过钚途径制造核武器上，因此德黑兰开展相关工作可能存在难度。他们还需要非法获取并建造一座钚后处理厂，以及处理和化学转化燃料的精密设备。所有这些都为其将钚用于核武器制造制造了重大障碍。”
她继续说道：“国际原子能机构可以将检查频率增加到每月一次，以降低布什尔核电站的扩散风险。俄罗斯也可以移除该基地积累的乏燃料。”
本杰明·温瑟尔报道以色列、伊朗、叙利亚、土耳其和欧洲的相关新闻。你可以在推特上关注本杰明@BenWeinthal，或通过benjamin.weinthal@fox.com向他发送邮件。
Experts warn Trump administration any Iran deal must close plutonium pathway to nuclear bombs
May 9, 2026 4:00pm EDT / Fox News
Mark Levin: Arm the Iranian people and give them a chance against the regime
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Nuclear weapons experts are raising the alarm bells over the pressing need for the Trump administration to codify in any new deal a ban on Iran’s attempts to use plutonium from its facilities to build an atomic bomb.
The administration and non-proliferation experts have largely focused on the Islamic Republic’s atomic weapons facilities that use uranium as the material for building nuclear bombs. Tehran could take advantage of this blind spot and covertly build a plutonium-based nuclear weapon.
Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran (UANI), told Fox News Digital: “I do believe any proposed deal with Iran needs to address the plutonium pathway to nuclear weapons. Israel struck the Arak heavy water reactor twice over the last year — in June 2025 and in March 2026. Intelligence suggested Iran had repeatedly attempted to reconstruct the facility even after the bombing, so any deal with Iran should cover the plutonium pathway.”
TRUMP BLOCKADE SQUEEZING IRAN SO HARD REGIME MAY BE DUMPING OIL INTO GULF, EXPERTS SAY
An illustration showing a list of Iran’s nuclear facilities, such as Arak’s heavy water nuclear reactor and the Natanz enrichment plant. (FDD/Fox News)
Iran’s regime could use plutonium from spent fuel at its nuclear reactor at Bushehr to build an atomic weapons device, according to Henry Sokolski, the executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center and former deputy for nonproliferation policy in the Department of Defense (1989–1993).
Writing last month on the website of Real Clear Defense, he noted “Washington should make sure that Iran doesn’t remove Bushehr’s spent fuel and strip out the plutonium. This can and should be done without bombing the plant.”
Sokolski wrote the “Pentagon should watch to make sure Iran does not remove any of the spent fuel at Bushehr. It could do this with space surveillance assets or, as it did in 2012, with drones. Second, any ‘peace’ deal President Trump cuts with Tehran should include a requirement that there be near-real-time monitoring of the Bushehr reactor and spent fuel pond, much as the IAEA had in place with Iran’s fuel enrichment activities.”
A satellite image the Heavy water plant of Arak, Iran is displayed. According to reports, the existence of this plant came to light in December 2002. Heavy water moderates nuclear fission chain reaction and can produce plutonium for use in a nuclear bomb.(DigitalGlobe via Getty Images)
In another article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in April, Sokolski argued that Iran has enough plutonium for more than 200 nuclear bombs. He said, “The last time IAEA inspectors visited Bushehr was August 27, 2025. Even when agency inspectors had routine access to the plant, they only visited every 90 days — more than enough time to divert the spent fuel and possibly fashion it into nuclear weapons.”
He added that “President Obama did not insist on such surveillance even though the IAEA asked Iran to permit it. Tehran said no.”
Recent IAEA reports have not addressed the plutonium path to a bomb with any specificity.
TRUMP CLAIMS IRAN ‘STARVING FOR CASH,’ ‘COLLAPSING FINANCIALLY’ AFTER EXTENDING CEASEFIRE
Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian visits nuclear facilities in Tehran, Iran on Nov. 1, 2025.(Iranian Presidency / Handout/Anadolu via Getty Images)
A State Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital that, “Iran’s nuclear program poses a threat to the United States and the entire world.”
The spokesperson continued, “Iran today stands in breach of its Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations by failing to provide full cooperation with the IAEA.Iran’s leadership must engage in serious diplomatic negotiations with the United States to resolve the nuclear issue once and for all.”
David Albright, a physicist and president of the Institute for Science and International Security, told Fox News Digital that he is “Highly skeptical that Iran would use plutonium from Bushehr’s spent fuel to make nuclear weapons.”
Bushehr nuclear plant in Iran, on April 29, 2024.(Photo by Morteza Nikoubazl/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The former weapons inspector, Albright, argued that, “One, Iran would need a design it has not developed. There is nothing in the Nuclear Archive on a plutonium-based nuclear weapon. Two, a diversion from Bushehr would be detected and undoubtedly lead Russia to suspend enriched uranium supplies, leading to a shutdown of a multibillion-dollar investment that supplies the area with electricity. Third, almost all the plutonium in the spent fuel is reactor-grade, and it is feasible that none is weapon-grade.”
Albright added that “Reactor-grade plutonium can be used to make a nuclear weapon, but it is tricky to do so if a significant explosive yield is wanted.” He added that Trump’s former National Security Adviser John Bolton “has been raising this issue for decades, and it is a remote possibility. It was rejected first in the Bush administration.”
Concerns persist about Iran’s devious behavior and its aim to build a nuclear weapon at all costs. As a result, there are calls to outlaw Iran’s plutonium reprocessing and impose rigorous surveillance on Iran’s plutonium infrastructure in a future deal with the U.S.
Andrea Stricker, the deputy director of The Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) Nonproliferation and Biodefense Program, told Fox News Digital.”The United States must insist on a permanent and verified ban on plutonium reprocessing in Iran under any deal.”
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An IDF infographic shows Iran’s Arak heavy water plant, described as a key infrastructure for plutonium production.(IDF)
Stricker noted that Moscow had realized the danger too. “To Russia’s rare credit, it insisted Iran let inspectors back in to safeguard the Bushehr reactor after the June 2025 strikes. Those inspections resumed last August. Plutonium produced at the reactor is not of desirable quality for nuclear weapons, and Iran has not focused on the plutonium route to nuclear weapons since the early 2000s, so it could be difficult for Tehran to work with. They would also need to illicitly acquire and outfit a plutonium reprocessing plant as well as sophisticated equipment to handle and chemically convert the fuel. All of this creates significant obstacles to its use as fuel for nuclear weapons.”
She continued that “The IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) could mitigate any proliferation risk at Bushehr by increasing the frequency of inspections to monthly. Russia could also remove the spent fuel that has accumulated at the site.”
Benjamin Weinthal reports on Israel, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Europe. You can follow Benjamin on Twitter @BenWeinthal, and email him at benjamin.weinthal@fox.com