The Iran nuclear program’s heavy water reactor at Arak. The Pentagon says Iran is still developing nuclear technology. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

JNS.org – As the June 30 deadline for a final nuclear deal approaches, Iran is continuing to develop technologies that “could be applicable to nuclear weapons,” including ballistic missiles, according to a Pentagon assessment of Iran’s military capability revealed by Bloomberg News on Thursday.

The full report, including classified details, was written in January and submitted to Congress last week. It found that Iran’s “covert activities appear to be continuing unabated,” and that the country’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps still plays a leading role in Iranian foreign policy, “particularly in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Bahrain, and Yemen.”

Despite these findings, the unclassified summary of the report indicates that Iran has “fulfilled its obligations” as outlined in the interim nuclear agreement reached with the U.S. and world powers, and that it has “paused progress” in some parts of its nuclear program.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters Wednesday that while he had not read the report, the scope of Iran’s potential nuclear military capabilities is an issue that “would need to be resolved” in the current negotiations. He added that even if the talks are successful, the U.S. would still have concerns about some of Iran’s activities.