Iran is rapidly approaching the nuclear weapon breakout point, that is, the point at which it will not only have sufficient amounts of uranium enriched to 20 percent and sufficient number of advanced centrifuges to enrich this uranium to bomb-grade 90+ percent enriched, but also the point at which it will need no more than a few weeks to build a bomb from the moment the country’s leadership decides to do so. For a country like Iran, shortening the period between the decision to go nuclear and actually manufacturing a bomb is essential: the shorter the period, the less likely it is that the United States or Israel will be able to react in a timely fashion and intervene militarily to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon. Iran now has about 18,000 centrifuges, including 10,000 active ones, the outgoing head of the country’s atomic agency, Fereydoon Abbasi Davani, said Saturday, confirming figures from the UN watchdog overseeing Iran’s nuclear drive. In May, the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency reported that Iran had installed 17,600 centrifuges, including 16,590 first generation and 1,000 second generation.