Yadlin: Iran has crossed nuclear technological threshold
Mar. 8, 2009
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
Iran had "crossed the technological threshold" and its attainment of nuclear military capability is now a matter of "incorporating the goal of producing an atomic bomb into its strategy," OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin told the cabinet on Sunday.
"Iran is continuing to amass hundreds of kilograms of low-level enriched uranium, and it hopes to exploit the dialogue with the West and Washington to advance toward the production of an atomic bomb," he said.
"Iran's plan for the continuation of its nuclear program while simultaneously holding talks with the new Washington administration is being received with caution in the Middle East," continued the Intelligence chief. "The moderates are worried that this approach will come at their expense and will be used by the radical axis to continue to carry out terror activities and rearm. In contrast, those in the radical axis are saying that despite the change in the Americans' stance, they will continue to act against them."
Last week, Adm. Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that Teheran probably already had the material necessary to make a nuclear weapon, but Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said the Iranians were not yet close to attaining a weapon.
The UN's International Atomic Energy Agency said last week that it had been mistaken in earlier reports and now had evidence that Iran has enough enriched uranium to make a nuclear weapon.
Two weeks ago, Iran's nuclear chief, Vice President Gholam Reza Aghazadeh, announced that 6,000 centrifuges were now operating at the enrichment facility in Natanz. He said Teheran hoped to install more than 50,000 centrifuges there over the next five years.
With the amount of centrifuges it is using in the enrichment process, Iran could add about 100 kg. of uranium to its stockpile each month, or even more, considering that it is setting up additional ready-to-go centrifuges every day.
Even 100 kg. would give it an estimated low-enriched uranium stockpile of just over 1,100 kg. - the minimum experts believe is required to yield the 25 kg. of highly enriched weapons grade uranium needed to build a bomb.
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Herb keinon, Yaakov Katz and news agencies contributed to this report
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