A SENIOR Israeli intelligence official warned yesterday that Iran will have enough enriched uranium to produce a nuclear bomb by the end of the year.
The assessment by Brig-Gen Yossi Baidatz, head of Military Intelligence’s Research Division, was the most alarming to date from an Israeli official and came as the country was in the second day of a five-day nationwide civil defence drill, seen by many as preparation for a future showdown with Teheran.
The brigadier-general told the Knesset parliament’s foreign affairs and defence committee that Iran will have enough fissile material for its first nuclear bomb this year.
The intelligence chief warned that international efforts to thwart Teheran’s nuclear drive were not working.
“The Iranian clock is ticking faster than the clock of international dialogue,” he said.
Prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu told the committee that US president Barack Obama agreed with him, during talks at the White House last month, that Tehran will not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons.
Brig-Gen Baidatz said Teheran is closely monitoring the world’s response to North Korea’s nuclear programme, and he stressed that Iranian nuclear aspirations are also a cause for concern to moderate Arab states.
Iran has rejected claims by Israel and the West that it is seeking to manufacture a nuclear bomb, arguing that its nuclear programme is strictly for civilian use, to produce electricity.
The Obama administration hopes to engage in a dialogue with Teheran following this month’s elections in Iran, with the aim of persuading the Islamic state to halt its nuclear drive.
The previous Israeli government, led by Ehud Olmert, argued that Israel should not take the lead in the struggle to prevent Iran acquiring a nuclear capability because a nuclear Iran would pose a threat to the entire free world.
But there has been a marked increase in Israeli rhetoric on the subject since Binyamin Netanyahu became prime minister earlier this year.
Last month, Israel’s top general, Lieut-Gen Gabi Ashkenazi, said Israel prefers a diplomatic solution, but the army was “preparing for all options.” Estimates over when Iran will cross the nuclear threshold differ widely and even US officials do not agree on the subject.
In March, US defence secretary Robert Gates said that Iran was “not close” to obtaining a weapon.
However, the chairman of the US joint chiefs of staff Mike Mullen, speaking on the very same day, said Iran already possessed enough fissile material to build a bomb, warning that a nuclear Iran would be “a very, very bad outcome.”
Last September, the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, warned that Teheran had made significant advances in enrichment and might be hiding some nuclear activity.
Israel believes that Iran is deliberately enriching low-grade uranium that is not sufficient for weapons development, but such material can be upgraded to weapons-grade uranium at short notice.