Tehran capable of making nuke bomb within a year, but won’t do so: US, Israel
July 10th, 2009 - 4:05 pm ICT by ANIJerusalem, July 10 (ANI): Although Iran is capable of building a nuclear bomb within a year, but the Islamic republic is unlikely to take such a decision, both Israel and the US believe.
According to the Israeli assessment, Iran will decide to make a nuclear bomb only in the “worst case scenario,” but both Jerusalem and Washington currently believe that such a scenario is not likely to materialize.
The assessments come in the wake of comments made by the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, US Admiral Mike Mullen, to the effect that Iran could be as little as a year away from completing a nuclear bomb, the Jerusalem Post reports.
However, Mossad head Meir Dagan recently surprised many by saying Iran won’t have a nuclear weapon until 2014
“I would be careful about all the declarations on this matter,” said one senior government official who deals with the issue, adding that a decision by Teheran to go full throttle toward the building of a bomb was dependent on numerous different decisions, which it had simply not yet made.
The paper quoted an official, as saying that the Iranians, meanwhile, have decided to continue to enrich as much low grade uranium as they can, and to also continue development in the field of ballistic missiles at a level that would not make their situation with the international community much worse than it already is.
There have been American and Israeli concerns that Iran may want to gain the potential capacity over a longer period to build an entire nuclear arsenal - and then stay weeks or months away from final bomb-making.
The international community is still keeping its eye on the nuclear issue, with the G-8 leaders giving Iran until late September to accept negotiations over the issue.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy said the situation would be reviewed at a G-20 meeting of developed and developing countries in Pittsburgh on September 24, and that “if there is no progress by then, we will have to take decisions.”
A unilateral attack by Israel on Iran to thwart the Islamic republic’s nuclear ambitions would be an “absolute catastrophe,” Sarkozy said after the G-8 summit in Italy. (ANI)
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