I wasn’t sure if I should write about this, but I decided to go ahead and do it anyway. Normally, in my articles I try to focus on verifiable facts that nobody can dispute. But in this case I am going to address rumors that Iran is threatening to detonate a nuclear weapon for a couple of reasons. First of all, the rumors that I am about to share with you are completely consistent with warnings that I have already given to my own readers. Secondly, the rumors that I am about to share with you come from a former CIA intelligence analyst. Just because they come from a former CIA intelligence analyst does not mean that they are true. But the fact that they are coming from someone with lots of experience in the intelligence community does give them more weight.
The former CIA intelligence analyst that I am talking about is named Larry C. Johnson.
He was interviewed by Andrew Napolitano on Monday, and during that interview he claimed that Iran is prepared to conduct “a demonstration with a nuclear weapon”…
Former CIA analyst Larry Johnson spoke with sources who said that Iran will test a nuclear weapon.
“There was a message that the Pakistani foreign minister delivered directly to Marco Rubio on Friday,” Johnson told Judging Freedom host Andrew Napolitano on Monday. “And it was basically the possibility that Iran would do a demonstration with a nuclear weapon.”
According to the message that was supposedly delivered to U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Iran will only conduct such a demonstration if the U.S. and Israel continue to escalate matters.
If this rumor is accurate, it changes everything, and so I would encourage you to watch the entire interview…
The mainstream media has run with other information that Larry C. Johnson has previously released, but they don’t seem to want to touch this with a ten foot pole.
But this claim has sparked a flurry of speculation among ordinary social media users…
I wanted to know more, and so I started digging.
Larry C. Johnson runs a website called “SONAR21”, and on that website he shared a lot more detail about the intelligence report that he received last Thursday…
Pepe Escobar and I received the following intelligence report last Thursday, which was produced by a knowledgeable source with access. I am not reproducing the entire report, but want to highlight the issue of whether or not Iran now has, or soon will have a nuke. Let me emphasize that I firmly support past US intel community assessments that Iran, until now, had no interest in obtaining a nuke.
However, it appears that the surprise attack on 28 February, which followed the aborted color revolution attempted in late December 2025, played a decisive role in changing Iran’s view on this matter.
I actually disagree with the assessment that Iran previously “had no interest in obtaining a nuke”, but that is a subject for another article.
What matters much more is what the Iranians have right now. The following is the key portion of the intelligence report that was sent to Larry C. Johnson near the end of last week…
Following Trump’s maximalist public response, the Supreme National Security Council deployed its ultimate deterrent. Through Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif—currently the only trusted back-channel between Washington and Tehran—Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian communicated a formally structured, three-step strategic ultimatum if US strikes continued:
1. Immediate Withdrawal from the ongoing nuclear peace talks.
2. Total Abandonment of the prospective Nuclear Treaty framework.
3. The Detonation of a Nuclear Device on Iranian soil—executed not as a weapon of war, but as an undeniable demonstration of sovereign capability and ultimate control over the escalation ladder.Transmitted by Pakistani FM Ishaq Dar to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, this was not rhetoric; it was a binary geopolitical shock warning. Rubio recognized the gravity, immediately moving to suppress the White House’s escalatory posturing.
We have already seen Iran pull the trigger on stage one.
That happened on Monday.
Johnson believes that if Israel bombs Beirut we could soon see the Iranians move on to stage two…
Here is my analysis of this information. The Iranian National Security Council met last week in the aftermath of US strikes on Qeshm Island and Bandar Abbas. The Council directed President Pezeshkian to deliver a message to Pakistan’s Prime Minister, Shebas Sharif. Pezeshkian’s message was simple and direct. Prime Minister Sharif then directed his Foreign Minister, Mr. Ishaq Dar, to deliver the message to US Secretary of State Marco Rubio. Let me emphasize that the source of this information was involved in the decision making process that culminated in the warning delivered to Rubio.
The key phrase — If US Strikes Continued — was delivered to Rubio on Thursday. Based on Iran’s announcement today (Monday) that it was withdrawing from further talks with the US until the Israeli attacks on Lebanon and the Palestinians ends, I believe this intelligence report to be credible.
The ball is now in the hands of Donald Trump and Bibi Netanyahu… If Israel persists in bombing Lebanon — Beirut in particular — then we should expect Iran to announce that it is withdrawing from the NPT. Once free of the NPT obligations, Iran will be free to carry out item 3, i.e., Detonating a Nuclear Device on Iranian Soil. This will be a demonstration intended to warn Israel and the US that further attacks on Iran would carry catastrophic consequences.
Let me give you my assessment of what will happen if Iran detonates a nuclear device on Iranian soil.
If that actually occurs, the Trump administration will be absolutely desperate to make peace.
But I believe that the Israeli response would be completely different. Instead of waiting around for the Iranians to produce hundreds or even thousands of nuclear weapons, Israel would likely launch an all-out surprise nuclear attack on Iran. The goal would be to destroy Iran before Iran could destroy Israel.
Israeli leaders are 100 percent convinced that if Iran starts producing nuclear weapons they will inevitably be used against Israel. Therefore, they would consider it to be absolutely imperative to conduct a preemptive assault to prevent that from happening.
I do not say any of this lightly.
We have reached such a dangerous moment in human history, and the vast majority of the population is clueless.
President Trump tried to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah on Monday, but just a short while later more Hezbollah rockets were fired toward Israel…
Overnight, the IDF said it had intercepted two Hezbollah rockets fired toward Safed, while an apparent Hezbollah drone struck a military position in the Western Galilee, close to the border with Lebanon. There were no injuries in either of those incidents.
Lebanon’s National News Agency said Israel conducted fresh airstrikes on south Lebanon on Tuesday morning.
The Lebanese army said two of its soldiers were moderately wounded in an Israeli drone strike on a road between the towns of Habboush and Deir al-Zahrani, in the Nabatieh area.
Subsequently, there was a lot of action around the southern Lebanese city of Nabatieh on Tuesday…
Israeli forces have carried out multiple air raids on the city of Nabatieh, one of the largest in southern Lebanon, our colleagues on the ground report. The city, a strategic hub for Hezbollah, has been encircled by Israeli forces in recent days as troops continue pushing north.
Israeli attacks were also reported across the wider Nabatieh district as Israel deepens its occupation of surrounding areas. Drones hit the towns of Kafr Sir and Aabba, while a strike targeted the road leading to Houmine al-Fawqa. The outskirts of Yahmour al-Shaqif were also hit.
There isn’t going to be peace between Israel and Hezbollah.
And if Hezbollah continues to send rockets and drones into northern Israel, the Israelis will bomb southern Beirut.
If that happens, the Iranians may decide that it is time for dramatic escalation.
I am convinced that we will eventually reach a point where nuclear weapons are used in the Middle East.
It is just a matter of time.
An apocalyptic showdown with Iran is looming, and the world is going to be completely and utterly shocked by what is coming next.
Michael’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com, and you can subscribe to his Substack newsletter at michaeltsnyder.substack.com.
About the Author: Michael Snyder’s new book entitled “10 Prophetic Events That Are Coming Next” is available in paperback and for the Kindle on Amazon.com. He has also written nine other books that are available on Amazon.com including “Chaos”, “End Times”, “7 Year Apocalypse”, “Lost Prophecies Of The Future Of America”, “The Beginning Of The End”, and “Living A Life That Really Matters”. When you purchase any of Michael’s books you help to support the work that he is doing. You can also get his articles by email as soon as he publishes them by subscribing to his Substack newsletter. Michael has published thousands of articles on The Economic Collapse Blog, End Of The American Dream and The Most Important News, and he always freely and happily allows others to republish those articles on their own websites. These are such troubled times, and people need hope. John 3:16 tells us about the hope that God has given us through Jesus Christ: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” If you have not already done so, we strongly urge you to invite Jesus Christ to be your Lord and Savior today.
