Warren Buffett Warns Iran With Nuclear Weapons Would Make Nuclear Disaster Harder to Avoid

Mar 31, 2026

Warren Buffett warned on CNBC's Squawk Box that Iran acquiring nuclear weapons would significantly increase the risk of nuclear conflict, predicting nuclear weapons will likely be used within the next 100 to 200 years. The Berkshire Hathaway CEO, who has warned about nuclear proliferation since 1945, identifies unstable leaders facing personal or political pressure as the greatest danger and considers nuclear attacks the primary threat to Berkshire Hathaway, the United States, and the world. Buffett serves as an adviser to the Nuclear Threat Initiative and financed its $100 million contribution to create an international low-enriched uranium fuel bank intended to discourage countries from pursuing uranium enrichment. He stated in 2016 that if he knew how to reduce the probabilities of nuclear, cyber, chemical, and biological mass attacks by 5%, all his money would go to that effort.

Buffett's Long-Standing Warnings About Nuclear Weapons

▪Warren Buffett has been sounding the alarm on nuclear weapons for decades.
▪Warren Buffett views a nuclear attack as the greatest risk for Berkshire Hathaway.
▪Warren Buffett stated in 2017 that he has been concerned about nuclear weapons since 1945 when the first atomic bomb was used.
▪Warren Buffett stated in 2002 that the greatest danger facing the United States and the world is the global threat from nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons.

The Escalating Danger of Weapons of Mass Destruction

▪Warren Buffett stated in 2016 that what was unleashed in 1945 is a pop gun compared to what can be done now.
▪Warren Buffett stated in 2008 that the genie is out of the bottle on nuclear knowledge.
▪Warren Buffett stated in 2008 that more and more people are going to know how to do enormous damage to the rest of the human race as the years go by.
▪Warren Buffett stated in 2016 that cyber, nuclear, chemical, and biological attacks are the only external threat to Berkshire Hathaway's economic wellbeing over time.
▪Warren Buffett stated in 2006 that the potential for inflicting enormous harm on incredible numbers of people has increased at a geometric pace since 1945.
▪Warren Buffett stated in 2017 that humanity has developed over 72 years since August 1945 the ability around the world to almost destroy civilization.

Buffett's Financial Commitment to Nuclear Threat Reduction

▪Warren Buffett financed the Nuclear Threat Initiative's $100 million contribution to the International Atomic Energy Agency's creation of a low-enriched uranium fuel bank.
▪Warren Buffett stated in 2016 that if he knew how to reduce the probabilities of cyber, nuclear, chemical, and biological mass attacks by 5%, all his money would go to that.
▪The Nuclear Threat Initiative's low-enriched uranium fuel bank effort is intended to discourage countries from pursuing their own uranium enrichment.
▪Warren Buffett serves as an adviser to the Nuclear Threat Initiative.

Perspective of Warren Buffett

▪Warren Buffett stated on CNBC's Squawk Box that Iran acquiring nuclear weapons would significantly raise the risk of nuclear conflict.
▪Warren Buffett predicts nuclear weapons will likely be used within the next 100 to 200 years.