Iran's nuclear 'breakout time' has shrunk to 3-4 months, Biden's top diplomat pick says

WASHINGTON, Jan 19 (Reuters) - The time it would take Iran to make enough fissile material for a single nuclear weapon has fallen to three or four months from over a year under the 2015 Iran nuclear deal, President-elect Joe Biden's choice to be the top U.S. diplomat said on Tuesday.

"The breakout time - the time it would take Iran to produce enough fissile material for one weapon - has gone from beyond a year, as it was under the JCPOA, to about three or four months, based at least on public reporting," Secretary of State-designate Antony Blinken told lawmakers, referring to the pact, whose formal name is the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action. (Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk and Arshad Mohammed; Editing by Franklin Paul and Grant McCool)