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Iran 'just two years away from having material for nuclear bomb' By Damian McElroy and David Blair Last Updated: 12:47am BST 10/04/2007 The confrontation between Iran and the West over its nuclear programme deepened yesterday when Teheran announced that it had started enriching uranium on an "industrial scale". The move is in breach of three United Nations resolutions and will raise fears that President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's regime is seeking a nuclear weapon. In a carefully orchestrated atmosphere of national celebration, Mr Ahmadinejad said: "I proudly announce that as of today Iran is among the countries which produce nuclear fuel on...

Abstract: The Obama Administration's engagement policy toward Iran has failed to defuse the nuclear standoff. Instead, Iran has continued to conceal and lie about its nuclear weapons program in an attempt to stall until it can present the world with a nuclear fait accompli. A nuclear-armed Iran not only will have a dramatically increased ability to threaten its neighbors and U.S. interests, but will also trigger a destabilizing nuclear arms race in the already volatile Middle East. The Administration's best option is to press both its allies and the U.N. Security Council to impose the strongest possible sanctions on Iran...

VIENNA (AFP) - Iran started a new round of converting uranium ore into the feedstock gas for making enriched uranium, a move likely to complicate diplomacy over Iran's disputed nuclear program, diplomats said. UN inspectors "are reporting that the first drums of new uranium ore were fed into the process at the uranium conversion facility in Isfahan this morning," a diplomat who asked not to be identified told AFP. Enriched uranium can be used as fuel for a civilian nuclear reactor or as atom bomb material. The conversion into the precursor gas is a second round after Iran already processed...

Iran could have ability to build nuclear bomb by 2010, study warns Iran will amass enough low-enriched uranium this year to have the ability to build a nuclear bomb by the end of 2010, a respected think tank has predicted. By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor 28 Jan 2009 A satellite image of Iran's Natanz uranium enrichment facility. The International Institute for Strategic Studies has said Iran is months away from crossing a vital threshold which could put it on course to build a weapon. Mark Fitzpatrick, the senior fellow for non-proliferation at the IISS, said: "This year, it's very likely...

Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, UAE and Saudi Arabia seek atom technologyThe spectre of a nuclear race in the Middle East was raised yesterday when six Arab states announced that they were embarking on programmes to master atomic technology. The move, which follows the failure by the West to curb Iran’s controversial nuclear programme, could see a rapid spread of nuclear reactors in one of the world’s most unstable regions, stretching from the Gulf to the Levant and into North Africa. The countries involved were named by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as Algeria, Egypt, Morocco and Saudi Arabia. Tunisia...

The US line that Iran is seeking the capability to develop nuclear weapons – but not necessarily such weapons themselves – contrasts with Mr. Bush’s insistence while in office that it sought nuclear weapons. Yes, read that again. WTF? That's the US line? It's nonsensical. Obama is leaking this for a reason. This is how this snake conducts his foreign policy. Iran wants nuclear weapons. They have oil. They are in North Korea buying a delivery system for a nuke as we speak -- the NORKS are launching a long range ballistic missile any minute now more as a sales...

Iran sets off nuclear race in the Middle East By David Blair, Diplomatic Editor Last Updated: 12:49AM BST 21/05/2008 Iran's neighbours began their nuclear programmes within months of Tehran's decision to start enriching uranium, according to a new report. Iran's stance has raised widespread doubts about its real intentions under President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's leadership In the 11 months that followed the onset of this procedure in Iran in 2006, 13 countries across the Middle East drew up new plans – or revived old ones – for building nuclear power stations. The International Institute for Strategic Studies believes they were acting...

Confidential intelligence documents obtained by The Times show that Iran is working on testing a key final component of a nuclear bomb. The notes, from Iran’s most sensitive military nuclear project, describe a four-year plan to test a neutron initiator, the component of a nuclear bomb that triggers an explosion. Foreign intelligence agencies date them to early 2007, four years after Iran was thought to have suspended its weapons programme. An Asian intelligence source last week confirmed to The Times that his country also believed that weapons work was being carried out as recently as 2007 — specifically, work on...

Israel's defence minister has warned of his country's readiness to act against Iran if it feels threatened. Ehud Barak, speaking in Tel Aviv, said Israel had "proved in the past that it won't hesitate to act when its vital security interests are at stake". He spoke as Iran's testing of missiles that could reach Israel stoked tensions between the two, and with the US. But Mr Barak added that diplomatic solutions should be pursued before other options were taken up. "Currently the focus is international sanctions and vigorous diplomatic activity, and these avenues should be exhausted," he said. US warning...

An Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites may become likelier in 2012 if Israel calculates it has more room to act alone in a U.S. presidential election year, a former U.S. official and nuclear diplomacy expert said. Mark Fitzpatrick, an Iran watcher at the International Institute of Strategic Studies, told Reuters the latest report by the UN nuclear watchdog made him more worried that Iran was closer to mastering how to use nuclear power as a weapon. Iran insists its nuclear program is for civilian energy only. But Fitzpatrick, who was a State Department official responsible for nuclear non-proliferation, said...

Iran still "2-3 years" from atom bomb By Mark Trevelyan Wed 31 Jan 2007 Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaks to parliamentarians before presenting his proposed budget in Tehran January 21, 2007. Iran is at least two to three years away from being able to produce a nuclear weapon, a leading global think-tank said on Wednesday. REUTERS/Raheb Homavandi LONDON (Reuters) - Iran is at least two to three years away from being able to produce a nuclear weapon, a leading global think-tank said on Wednesday. But the International Institute for Strategic Studies said pressure on the United States to stop the...

In a move that could curtail Israeli power in the Middle East, the US is calling on Israel to sign the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) and forego the use and stockpile of nuclear weapons. Twice in the past two weeks, State Department officials have compared Israel’s status as a nuclear power with that of India and Pakistan, calling on all three nations to give up their nuclear arms. The statements were made by two mid-level State Department Officials, ahead of the NPT Review Conference, scheduled to open in New York on May 2. The purpose of the conference is to...

U.S. says Israel must give up nukes By Amir Oren, Haaretz Correspondent www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/560278.html The State Department Saturday called on Israel to forswear nuclear weapons and accept international Atomic Energy Agency safeguards on all nuclear activities. This is the second time in about two weeks that officials in the Bush administration are putting the nuclear weapons of Israel, India and Pakistan on a par. The officials called on the three to act like Ukraine and South Africa, which in the last decade renounced their nuclear weapons. The similar phrasing used by the officials refers to Israel's military nuclear capability, as distinct...

US may cede to Iran’s nuclear ambition By Daniel Dombey in Washington Published: April 3 2009 17:29 | Last updated: April 3 2009 17:29 US officials are considering whether to accept Iran’s pursuit of uranium enrichment, which has been outlawed by the United Nations and remains at the heart of fears that Iran is seeking nuclear weapons capability. As part of a policy review commissioned by President Barack Obama, diplomats are discussing whether the US will eventually have to accept Iran’s insistence on carrying out the process, which can produce both nuclear fuel and weapons- grade material. “There’s a fundamental...

As the United Arab Emirates spends billions to defend itself against a perceived Iranian threat, it also enjoys a robust trading relationship with its potential foe. The UAE sees Iran as both a threat and a valued trading partner, events during the last two years have shown. International efforts to impose economic sanctions against the Iranian regime for its alleged plans to develop nuclear weapons might be a tough sell in the UAE, which has strong economic ties with Iran. The UAE is one of Iran’s largest trading partners. Boats from across the Gulf arrive in Abu Dhabi’s port loaded...