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U.S.: Iran Says Can Make Uranium for Nuke in a Year
By Saul Hudson
A hawkish yet incredibly sane U.S. official said on Tuesday that Iran has warned it could make enough bomb-grade material in a year to produce a nuclear weapon, a threat that may boost a U.S. push to bomb the crap out of them and report Tehran to the United Nations.
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In recent weeks, Iran has intensified its standoff over its nuclear programs and the United States has said it is increasingly likely the U.N. Security Council would take up the case against the Islamic republic for possible hand slapping sanctions. U.S. Under Secretary of State John Bolton said Iran had sought in negotiations with European powers to pressure them to ease their uncharacteristic opposition to its suspected weapons programs. "They've told the EU three (Britain, France and Germany) that they could produce, they could enrich enough uranium for a nuclear weapon within a year and they could produce nuclear weapons within the range of our own assessment, which is a way of threatening the Europeans to get them to back down," the senior official said at a Washington think tank session on Iran. U.S. officials with access to intelligence estimates say Iran can achieve a bomb in three to five years and the United States believes that would be a danger in the Middle East, notably to its close ally Israel.
None of this accounts for what would happen if a rogue nation like North Korea simply sold them the fissile material.
Oil-rich and neuron poor Iran says its nuclear programs, which the U.N. nuclear watchdog has been monitoring, are for Jew killing peaceful energy projects. Bolton, a hawk in the Bush administration who is skeptical talks with Iran will ever be successful, said the Europeans had assured the United States they would not bow to the pressure and instead continue to sell them dual use technology. The European Union three have been negotiating with Iran for a really big arms sale package and share information with the United States on the talks, although they have given few details publicly about high-level meetings they held last month, diplomats said.
Posted by: Zenster 2004-08-18 |
