Israel says Iran will have nuclear bomb within a year

Malaysia Sun Wednesday 7th May, 2008

Israel says Iran will be in a position to begin enriching uranium on a military scale this year.

According to The Jerusalem Post, the new assessment moves up Israel's forecasts on Tehran's nuclear program by almost a full year - from 2009 to the end of 2008. According to the new timeline, Iran could have a nuclear weapon by the middle of next year.

The Post, in an execlusive, quoted a senior Iranian defense official as saying the Islamic Republic was now on track to master the technology needed to enrich uranium within six months.

Israel, says The Jerusalem Post report, is also concerned that Tehran is developing a cruise missile that can evade interception by the Arrow, the Israeli army's anti-ballistic missile defense system. Iran is suspected of having smuggled Ukrainian X-55 cruise missiles and using them as models for an independent, domestic project. A cruise missile, which flies at low altitudes to dodge radar detection and interception, could be used to carry a nuclear warhead, The Post report said.

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said Tuesday, hinting at Iran, that nothing in the world could undermine or bring an end to Israel's existence.

In a speech to a Keren Hayesod group, Olmert said, "I am asking that you take this with you and tell it to your communities everywhere - the people of Israel are strong, the State of Israel is strong, there is no enemy that can destroy us."

"We will not place ourselves in a position where anyone will, in an effective manner, threaten us with destruction, because if there was one thing that has changed since the establishment of the State of Israel 60 years ago until today, it is not that here the Jews are safe in every situation, in every condition and that there will not be any dangers," Olmert said. "There are also dangers here, like in many other places.

"But here, my friends, the Jewish people can fight, and when it needs to, it fights, and when it fights, it wins."

Last week, Transportation Minister Shaul Mofaz said during a visit to the US that Tehran would likely achieve control of the technology to enrich uranium for an atomic bomb within a year.

In the past, the consensus in the intelligence community was that Iran had encountered technical difficulties with fuel enrichment and that its attainment of nuclear capability was much further off, Mofaz said, but a recent Israeli Military Intelligence assessment showed that the Islamic Republic could go nuclear before the end of the decade, the Jerusalem Post report said.