While President Donald J. Trump was issuing a fresh warning from the White House – “Iran may not have nuclear weapons. It’s very simple.” – A more strange nuclear secret was coming out online. It was not about the centrifuge spinning in Natanz in a Fordo or uranium stockpiles. It was about Jeff.In particular, CNN’s once chart listed general powers titled “Worlds Nuclear Arsenal”: Russia, United States, France, China, UK, and so on. But tucking near the bottom with less than 10 warheads, there was an unexpected entry: Jeff. No flag. No footnote. Just name – as he was a wicked microstat with a dumsde arsenal.So who is Jeff?So who is Jeff? For a casual viewer, Jeff may look like an evil nuclear actor. A breakway Republic? A technical billionaire with uranium hobby? A heavy think tank man? The answer is disappointingly rational. Jeff means the joint assessment fragmentation and fusion file, which is the nuclear data library maintained by the OECD Atomic Energy Agency (NEA). It is not a country and is not weapons. This compiles nuclear reaction data for civil applications – including power generation, reactor security, and medical isotopes. The latest dataset released in 2017, Jeff -3.3 is widely used in Europe.What is likely a labeling error: A dataset meant that the source of nuclear information was accidentally interpreted as a unit with nuclear weapons. This misunderstanding, noted in the 2024 Iflscience article, shows how easily the public understanding of complex subjects can be distorted – especially when imagined without reference.
Iran’s nuclear ambitions
While social media converted Jeff into a fictional weapon dealer, the real nuclear issue – Iran – continued to move. Trump’s administration, now back to the office, has repeatedly stated that it is non-perfect to prevent Iran from receiving nuclear weapons.Iran’s nuclear program began under Shah in the 1950s, with US support for the atoms of President Eisenhwar. The Tehran Research Reactor was built with American aid. After the 1979 Islamic Revolution, the program was briefly suspended, but was revived with the help of Pakistan, Russia and China in the 1980s – this time without Western inspection.In the early 2000s, Iran’s nuclear activities conducted rapid investigation. In 2002, disgruntled groups revealed the secret promotion facilities in Natanz and Arak, inspiring the IAEA investigation. Iran said that its goals were peaceful – energy freedom and medical research – but limited inspectors access and weapons work evidence raised the alarm.It led the Joint Comprehensive Plan (JCPOA) of 2015, under which Iran agreed to ban uranium enrichment and submit for international inspection in exchange for relief of restrictions. In 2018, Trump withdrew from the deal citing weak enforcement and sunset segments.Since then, Iran has greatly expanded its enrichment activities. By 2025, it is enriching uranium up to 60% purity-shy with weapons-grades-and it is believed that there is enough material for a bomb within weeks, if it moves forward, it moves forward, according to IAAAA assessment.Trump replied with blunt stability: “Iran may not have nuclear weapons.” Not as a slogan, but as a red line as a foreign policy.
