[Times-UK] Richard Beeston - It is a widely held conclusion among nuclear experts that Iran now possesses enough enriched uranium to build a nuclear bomb. It would still have to be enriched to weapons grade, but Iran has mastered the technology and has the raw materials. Building a nuclear bomb is now only a matter of time. Iranian President Ahmadinejad has threatened to wipe Israel off the map, has hosted a Holocaust-denying conference, and has stepped up arming and funding Hizbullah and Hamas, the two militant groups responsible for rocket attacks against Israel. Israel carried out a raid in January on a weapons convoy in Sudan. The aircraft, which were refueled in mid-air, flew 1,750 miles from Israel to Sudan and back. The distance from Israel to Natanz, the uranium enrichment center in Iran, is 900 miles one way. Many Arab states, particularly in the Gulf, are more afraid of a nuclear-armed Iran than Israel is. A military strike that delayed that threat would be welcomed in some Arab capitals. The Israelis know that they would face a huge international outcry. But that happened after the raid on Iraq and many countries later thanked them privately.
2009-04-03 06:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive