Iran could produce enough low-enriched uranium by January that if run through centrifuges again could generate fuel for a nuclear bomb in two to three months, the Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control reported Wednesday (see GSN, Oct. 17).
(Oct. 17) -
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad examines his country’s uranium enrichment centrifuges in April (Getty Images).
Iran maintains it only wants to produce low-enriched uranium to supply its nascent nuclear power program; however, the potential remains for Tehran to recirculate the uranium through its enrichment centrifuges to obtain material suitable for use in a nuclear weapon.
The independent report’s enrichment schedule is based on Iran’s estimated stock of low-enriched uranium and the estimated amount of material the country produces each month (Wisconsin Project on Nuclear Arms Control release, Oct. 15).
Meanwhile, China has blocked discussions of new economic penalties against Iran, possibly because the United States plans to sell $6.5 billion in defensive armaments to Taiwan, the Associated Press reported yesterday (see GSN, Oct. 15).
The Bush administration has attempted for days to arrange a telephone conversation between representatives for the five permanent U.N. Security Council member nations and Germany. However, Beijing has so far avoided agreeing to a time for the discussion, according to U.S. officials and diplomats.
Earlier this month, U.S. officials said they did not expect China’s participation in multilateral initiatives on Iran to be affected by the planned weapons sale to Taiwan, which Beijing considers a rogue province. China’s moves to delay action on potential new sanctions concerns the United States and its Western allies, which are eager to boost pressure on Tehran (Matthew Lee, Associated Press/International Herald Tribune, Oct. 16).
Elsewhere, Iranian state television said yesterday that a major air force exercise under way in the nation is intended to show that its it has the ability to strike against Israel, United Press International reported. Tehran has threatened to swiftly retaliate against any Israeli attack on its nuclear sites.
The Iranian drill is aimed at addressing rumors that Jerusalem might authorize such a strike between U.S. elections next month and the presidential inauguration in January, according to the Israeli military intelligence Web site DEBKAfile (United Press International, Oct. 16).