IRAN WILL HAVE NUKE SOON

Iran Only Months from Bomb Technology, Says Britain - Simon Tisdall and Ian Traynor

Britain claimed Thursday that Tehran could acquire the technological capability to build a bomb by the end of the year. A day after the International Atomic Energy Agency referred the dispute to the UN Security Council, British officials also indicated that London would back Washington's efforts to impose a UN deadline of about 30 days for Iran's compliance with international demands. A senior Foreign Office official said that while it could take Iran several years to build a serviceable nuclear weapon, it might gain the technical knowhow within months. "By the end of the year is a...realistic period," said the official. "It would be really damaging to regional security if Iran even acquired the technology to enable it to develop a nuclear weapon."

Iran has 85 tons of uranium gas stockpiled for enrichment at its Isfahan facility, held under UN seals. American officials say this is enough for 10 bombs. (Guardian-UK)

See also UN "Has Less Than a Year" to Stop Iran Going Nuclear - Bronwen Maddox
A British official warned the UN Security Council Thursday that it should move fast as it was "reasonable" to think that Iran could acquire the technology to make nuclear weapons "within a year." An official added: "We will be looking to impede ways that Iran might develop nuclear technology, and to bring home to the Iranian leadership that it cannot defy international community without some penalty."

On Wednesday, the Iranian paper Keyhan ran an analysis of the strength of Iran's position which may well reflect President Ahmadinejad's thinking: "What we have is worth [all the trouble], because an Iran that possesses nuclear capability would be an unrivalled regional power." "One cannot put a price on such an advantage....This is not something that any rational politician would like to give up as soon as he hears some hue and cry or faces some empty threats." (Times-UK)