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Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom (AP)
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09/20
Haaretz |
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| By israelinsider staff and partners September 20, 2005 |
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Contrary to a recent assessment by the International Institute for Strategic Studies -- which stated that Iran is at least five years away from producing enough fissile material for a single bomb (with 15 years a more likely timeframe) -- Israel's Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom said on Monday that Iran may be as little as six months away from building a nuclear bomb.
According to a report in Haaretz, Shalom told a meeting of U.S. Jewish leaders in New York: "The question is not if they are going to hold that bomb in 2009 or 2010 or 2011, the question is when they will have the full knowledge.
"According to our people, security and intelligence, they are very, very close. It may be only six months before they will have that full knowledge."
Silvan made his speech while at the same time the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) met in Vienna to consider whether to refer Iran to the Security Council for possible sanctions over its secretive nuclear program.
Although Iran insists its nuclear program is purely to make electricity for civilians, both the United States and Europe suspect Tehran of seeking a weapons capability.
According to the report in Haaretz, Shalom warned the IAEA not to hesitate to report Iran to the Security Council, since time is of the essence and stopping them may be difficult in the future. "They have some technical problems recently," Shalom said, suggesting that now would be a good time to report them. "That's all the information that I can give".
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