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Barak: Iran used up some of its uranium this summer, pushing back 'moment of truth' 8 to 10 months
Otherwise, situation would have 'peaked' by now, defense minister tells Telegraph; says military option still on tableIran temporarily pulled back from its nuclear weapons drive this summer, and converted over a third of its enriched uranium to civilian use, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said in an interview published Tuesday, intimating that this shift pushed off a decision by Israel and its allies about striking at Iran's nuclear facilities. Barak told The Telegraph that Tehran's move to transfer 38 percent of its enriched uranium stockpile into fuel rods for civilian use "allows contemplating delaying the moment of truth by eight to 10 months." Were it not for this Iranian move, he said, the situation would likely have "peaked" before the US presidential election. Talk of an Israeli or American strike against Iran's nuclear program has indeed died down since being raised to a zenith over the summer, with the US publicly opposing an Israeli resort to force and refusing Israel's call to set "red lines" that, if crossed by Iran, would trigger military action. The US maintains that time remains for diplomacy and sanctions to work, while Israel at the time said Iran was closing in fast on the ability to create a nuclear weapon. Asked whether, had they not made the move to reduce their uranium stockpile, the Iranians would likely be reaching the point of no return, necessitating military action "about now," Barak replied: "Probably, yes." He added that Iran could still reconvert the rods back into weapons-grade uranium, though this would take time and resources. Barak posited "at least three explanations" for why Iran had temporarily pulled back: "One is the public discourse about a possible Israeli or American operation deterred them from trying to come closer. It could probably be a diplomatic gambit that they have launched in order to avoid this issue culminating before the American election, just to gain some time. It could be a way of telling the IAEA [ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency] 'oh we comply with our commitments'... Maybe it's a combination of all these three elements." Posted by: trailing wife 2012-10-31 |
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