Will Iran, which has revealed its limits against Israel, step up to arm itself with nuclear weapons?

Amid the collapse of the Hezbollah leadership, Iran, which has shown its limitations in deterrence in two airstrikes directly targeting mainland Israel, could start developing nuclear weapons, according to an analysis.

"The weakening of its responsiveness to Israel has put Iran under pressure to develop a new source of deterrence," a senior analyst at political advisory firm Eurasia Group told the Wall Street Journal (WSJ).

"In the future, we can see a situation where Iran's nuclear program does not remain at a peaceful level," he predicted.

Iran has been close to producing nuclear weapons by restricting inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency and IAEA, continuing to increase uranium enrichment, after then-U.S. President Trump broke the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) in 2018.

Pereidun Abbasi, a former chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission of Iran (AEOI), also said he could start producing weapons-grade, 90% enriched uranium.

U.S. officials also warned that it would take Iran less than two weeks to convert 60% of its current stockpile of uranium into weapons grade.

According to the latest IAEA data, Iran now has enough weapons-grade fuel to make nearly four nuclear weapons.

Iran has also said it has begun activities this summer to acquire additional knowledge needed to develop nuclear weapons, leading to analysis that it could produce "narrow" levels of nuclear devices in a few months.

However, if Iran enters the path of nuclear weapons manufacturing as part of its deterrence against Israel, it could trigger offensive intervention between the United States and Israel, which could pose a greater risk, the WSJ predicted.