"Whether there is an economic rationale doesn't matter: This still will bring Iran within weeks of getting a large arsenal of bombs," said Henry Sokolski, a Defense Department official during the first Bush administration who served as an adviser on nonproliferation policy. "And they can do it without breaking any rules."
"We believe Iran uses Bushehr as a cover and a pretext for obtaining sensitive technologies to advance its nuclear weapons program," State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in a written answer to a question posed at a Friday news briefing.