IRAN HAS enough fissile material to build one nuclear bomb, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff said yesterday, underlining the gravity of the toughest foreign policy issue facing the Obama administration.
Admiral Mike Mullen said a nuclear-armed Iran would be a “very, very bad outcome”, apparently confirming a report by the UN’s nuclear watchdog that its uranium enrichment was more advanced than previously thought.
It was the first such public assessment of Iran’s nuclear capability by the US, though there was no indication whether it was based on independent intelligence.
Admiral Mullen’s remarks came after a report two weeks ago by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that claimed an increase in Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium at its Natanz plant since last November to 1,010kg – enough, say some physicists, for conversion into high-enriched uranium for one bomb.
Asked if Iran had enough material to manufacture a bomb, Admiral Mullen said: “We think they do, quite frankly. Iran having a nuclear weapon . . . is a very, very bad outcome for the region and for the world.”
Iran insists it does not intend to build nuclear weapons but is pursuing its legitimate right to process uranium for power plants.
Israel, which has its own undeclared nuclear weapons arsenal, has been warning for some time that Iran is far closer than believed in the West to being able to build a bomb.
Barack Obama has repeatedly signalled that he wants diplomatic engagement with Tehran to defuse nuclear dispute. But he has also hinted at tougher sanctions if Iran does not meet international demands. He and UK prime minister Gordon Brown will discuss Iran in Washington this week.
Assessing Iran’s nuclear ambitions has a troubled history in the US. In 2007 an intelligence estimate concluded Iran had halted its programme in 2003. But that was widely questioned. And even if true, there is no guarantee it has not restarted since.
Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, said separately yesterday that Iran was “not close” to obtaining a weapon. “They’re not close to a weapon at this point,” he told NBC. IAEA delegates are to discuss Iran at a meeting in Vienna today amid concern that it has been curbing inspections. – (Guardian service)