BACKGROUNDER: Compiled by Bill Gertz
Iran is within weeks of crossing a “threshold” for its nuclear weapons capability, Israeli Defense Forces intelligence chief Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin said last week.“The Iranians are acting to enrich uranium and to cross a technological threshold which would let them state that they possess nuclear technology, so that they would no longer need any external assistance,” Yadlin told the Ma'ariv newspaper. “In respect of the technology gap, they are a few months away from crossing the threshold that I mentioned,” he said. “Afterwards, the length of time that they will need to attain the bomb will depend on their rate of progress in producing the necessary materials. It may be that the international community should exert such pressure on them so that they would not wish to advance, but if they do want to, it would be a matter of another few years until they attain a bomb.”
Yadlin said the nuclear program is “reversible at any state” and that if the threshold is not crossed, a nuclear program is out of the question.
As to when Iran will have a nuclear weapon, he stated: “It is very hard to predict the exact date. International pressure is being exerted on Iran. But assuming that the program makes progress in technological terms, then judging by the standards and pace that we know from other countries, and assuming that Iran does not retreat in the face of international pressure — it may possess a nuclear bomb toward the end of this decade."
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