‘Iran two weeks away from weapons-grade uranium’

[flowers]

http://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-two-weeks-away-from-weapons-grade-uranium/

ran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to build an atomic weapon within two weeks and has, “in a certain way,” already reached the point of no return in its nuclear program, a former senior International Atomic Energy Association official said Monday.

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“I believe that if certain arrangements are done, it could even go down to two weeks. So there are a lot of concerns out there that Iran can hopefully now address, in this new phase, both at the P5+1 [talks between Tehran and six world powers] and with the IAEA,” former IAEA deputy director Olli Heinonen said, confirming a report released last week by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, which stated Iran could muster enough uranium for a bomb by converting all of its 20-percent enriched stockpile within 1 to 1.6 months.

Earlier on Monday, IAEA Director Yukiya Amano met in Vienna with Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi, Tehran’s top nuclear negotiator, ahead of two days of technical talks between Iranian representatives and the UN’s nuclear watchdog. Amano described his meeting as important in addressing “the outstanding issues regarding Iran’s nuclear program.”

Speaking to journalists on a conference call organized by The Israel Project, Heinonen contrived to sound optimistic and pessimistic at the same time.

“They are forward looking,” he about about the Iranian negotiators. “And I think they have realized that they don’t get away from this situation unless they answer properly the questions raised by the IAEA and concerns raised by the international community. So I’m to a certain degree hopeful. But we have to make sure that everything is covered.”
Olli Heinonen (photo credit: courtesy)

Olli Heinonen (photo credit: Curtesy)

Asked specifically if Iran had passed the “point of no return” in its nuclear program, Heinonen, today a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government’s Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, replied, “Yes, in a certain way. But we have to remember what are the capabilities of Iran. People have slightly different definitions of breakout capability.”

In his assessment, which appears to concur with that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a critical level is reached when the Iranians have enriched enough uranium to weapons grade, in the form of hexafluoride gas enrichment, to create a nuclear bomb.

“But you still don’t have a nuclear weapon,” Heinonen added. Preparing the highly enriched uranium for a nuclear bomb would take another month or two, “assuming that someone has all the knowledge.” After that, assembling an actual nuclear weapon that can be delivered with a ballistic missile would take perhaps another year, he said.

Iran continues to install hundreds of new advanced centrifuges every month, drastically reducing the so-called breakout time it would require in order to produce weapons-grade uranium if it decided to do so, he said.

[Oceander]

“They are forward looking,” he about about the Iranian negotiators. “And I think they have realized that they don’t get away from this situation unless they answer properly the questions raised by the IAEA and concerns raised by the international community.

[Chieftain]

Look, Obammy and his crew have been talking in terms of containing a nuclear Iran since he was in the Senate, so none of this should be a surprise to anyone who is not connected to the major media outlets.  I expect a nuclear test any time, possibly via the Norks who have been busy at their test site for some months now.  Iran is going to get the bomb, and so is Saudi Arabia and a whole bunch of other Islamic countries, all thanks to Obama.

[EC]

Look, Obammy and his crew have been talking in terms of containing a nuclear Iran since he was in the Senate, so none of this should be a surprise to anyone who is not connected to the major media outlets.  I expect a nuclear test any time, possibly via the Norks who have been busy at their test site for some months now.  Iran is going to get the bomb, and so is Saudi Arabia and a whole bunch of other Islamic countries, all thanks to Obama.

Good to have you back, Chief!

As I said on another thread, Saudi Arabia is going to get the bomb - but not in the sense you mean. Control of the holy sites is an obsession with Iran's governing council. They want Mecca and Medina.