‘A weapon of mass distraction:’ How Oct. 7 enabled Iran to advance its nuclear program

"...Jason Brodsky, policy director of United Against Nuclear Iran, said that as a nuclear-threshold state, Iran 'is trying to weaponize and exploit that status, and use it as a sword of Damocles to hang over the international community in an attempt to thwart any pressure on the Islamic Republic, and it’s succeeding'” Brodsky said that the Oct. 7 attack could have been motivated by distracting from the nuclear file, but that thwarting normalization between Saudi Arabia and Israel was a more likely reason for the timing. In addition, 'Hamas and Iranians might have perceived Israeli deterrence to be low or eroded because of judicial reform protests.'"