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Iran moves closer to nukes capability

By George Jahn, ASSOCIATED PRESS | Thursday, September 25, 2008

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VIENNA, Austria

Two years? One? Even less?

Opinions differ on how close Iran may be to developing a nuclear weapon, but concerned governments and experts agree the time to stop Tehran is growing short - and the options are limited.

The time frame is increasingly important because of the possibility that Israel or the United States might opt for a military strike against the Islamic republic if either judged that all diplomatic options to end its nuclear defiance had been exhausted.

Also, with Tehran showing no signs of giving up uranium enrichment or heeding other international demands, the diplomatic window is growing increasingly narrow.

That fact gives special significance to a meeting this week of the 35-nation board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and its chief focus of what to do about Iran.

Hard-line Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad made his annual appearance in New York at the U.N. General Assembly this week, where he told fellow heads of state on Tuesday that Iran has an "inalienable right" to produce nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes.

Mr. Ahmadinejad also appeared to stoke the flames on Sunday, declaring that Iran's military will "break the hand" of anyone targeting his country's nuclear facilities. He spoke during a military parade displaying various types of Iranian-made missiles. Also in the parade was a military truck carrying a huge banner saying, "Israel should be eliminated from the universe" in both English and Farsi.

Iran insists its nuclear activities are geared only toward generating power, but Israel says the Islamic republic could have enough nuclear material to make its first bomb within a year. The European Union warned Wednesday that Iran is nearing the ability to arm a nuclear warhead, but the United States estimates that Tehran is still at least two years away from that stage.

At the low end is physicist and former U.N. nuclear inspector David Albright. He says Tehran could reach weapons capacity in as little as six months through uranium enrichment.