Nine countries currently either say they have nuclear weapons or are believed to possess them. The first to have nuclear arms were the five original nuclear weapons states — the United States, Russia, China, France and the United Kingdom.

When Israel launched its series of strikes against Iran last week, it also issued a number of dire warnings about the country’s nuclear program, suggesting Iran was fast approaching a point of no return in its quest to obtain nuclear weapons and that the strikes were necessary to preempt that outcome.

The status of Iran's nuclear capability is surrounded by mystery even as in that is a central question in the Iran-Isreal conflict.