Agence France-Presse,
Washington: The United States believes Iran has enough fissile material to build a nuclear bomb, top military officer Admiral Mike Mullen said on Sunday, marking the first time Washington has made such an assessment.
“We think they do, quite frankly,” Mullen told CNN when asked if Iran had enough nuclear material to manufacture an atomic bomb.
“And Iran having a nuclear weapon, I've believed for a long time, is a very, very bad outcome for the region and for the world,” said Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff.
While the United States and European allies have expressed concern previously that Iran could soon have sufficient enriched uranium to manufacture a nuclear weapon, Mullen's more definitive comments went a step further.
The admiral's remarks came in the wake of a report by the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), that said Tehran had made major strides in its uranium enrichment work.
Citing the report, some analysts say Iran may have sufficient material to make a nuclear bomb or may be close to that point.
According to the IAEA, Tehran now has 1,010 kilograms of low-enriched uranium hexafluoride from its enrichment activities at a plant at Natanz.
That “is sufficient for a nuclear weapons breakout capability,” according to David Albright, president of the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security and an expert on Iran's nuclear program.
A breakout capability is defined as securing enough low-enriched uranium, used for nuclear fuel, to turn into highly enriched uranium needed for nuclear weapons.
Iran denies its atomic work is designed to build a nuclear arsenal and says it wants to develop nuclear technology to generate electricity for a growing population.
The White House declined to comment on Sunday when asked about Mullen's assertion.
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates meanwhile struck a more cautious note on Iran's nuclear project in an interview broadcast on NBC television.
“I think that there has been a continuing focus on how do you get the Iranians to walk away from a nuclear weapons program? They're not close to a stockpile. They're not close to a weapon at this point.
“And so, there is some time,” Gates told NBC's “Meet the Press.”
He said diplomacy carried a greater chance of success now that oil prices had dropped, enhancing the effect of economic sanctions on Iran which relies heavily on oil revenue.
“Our chances of being successful, it seems to me, are a lot better at 35 dollars or 40 dollars” than 140 dollars a barrel, Gates said.
“Because there are economic costs to this program. They do have economic challenges at home.”
Iran's first satellite launch and the announcement that its first nuclear power plant in Bushehr could go on line within months have heightened concerns in Western capitals.
European states are considering imposing new sanctions on individuals and institutions linked to Iran's nuclear efforts, diplomats in several capitals said Thursday.
A six-year-old investigation by the IAEA into Iran's nuclear activities is deadlocked, with Tehran refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, despite repeated UN sanctions.
The IAEA's 35-member board of governors will consider Iran's case when it starts meeting on Monday, the first gathering since US President Barack Obama took office. He has said the US administration could be ready for direct talks with Iran.
