Iran could have nuclear bomb before 2015: Germany
Pastor Dale Morgan
Iran could have nuclear bomb before 2015: Germany*
Reuters
Tuesday, October 24, 2006; 10:30 AM
BERLIN (Reuters) - Iran is unlikely to be able to develop a nuclear bomb
before 2015, the chief of Germany's BND foreign intelligence agency said
on Tuesday.
His estimate falls within the 3-10 year range of forecasts given by most
international experts.
"It is difficult to give an exact estimate of the time," BND head Ernst
Uhrlau told a security conference organized by the Welt am Sonntag
newspaper.
"According to the current rate of enrichment, the Islamic Republic will
not have sufficient amounts of highly enriched uranium with which to
build atomic weapons before 2010. For a nuclear bomb we are looking at
around 2015," said Uhrlau.
Iran is OPEC's second biggest oil exporter and denies accusations from
the United States and other western nations that it wants to make
nuclear weapons.
Tehran is in a standoff with the international community over its
program to develop nuclear technology which it says it needs to meet
booming energy needs.
Talks between Iran and the European Union to explore a compromise on
enrichment to avoid U.N. sanctions have collapsed.
Iran is hoping Russia and China, both major trade partners and Security
Council veto holders, will prevent the United States from pushing
through anything more than largely symbolic sanctions.
Earlier this month the U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to impose
financial and weapons sanctions on North Korea after it conducted a
nuclear test.