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U.S. intel does a 180 on Iran's nuke capability With little fanfare the United States has revised its assessment of Iran's nuclear weapons program. Officials said the U.S. intelligence community has determined that Iran has become capable of enriching uranium and completing the nuclear fuel cycle. In 2005, a CIA study assessed that Iran would require five to 10 years to develop its first nuclear weapon. The assessment said Iran, still highly dependent on foreign suppliers, lacked numerous components and technology required for full-scale production of enriched uranium. The study also asserted that Iran had failed to develop a nuclear warhead for its Shihab-3 intermediate-range missile. Officials said the assessment, conducted in cooperation with the State Department's Bureau of Intelligence and Research, reflected Teheran's program as of late 2004. The new assessment envisions Iran as ready to produce fissile material for its first weapons. "I would say that Iran does have the capability to develop nuclear weapons and the delivery means for those weapons," Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph said in a briefing to foreign journalists on Feb. 6. "We have watched Iran proceed step by step, conversion to enrichment-related activities, in a way that demonstrates very clearly that they are moving forward to a nuclear weapons capability." Officials said IT was the first time a senior U.S. official publicly assessed that Iran has achieved nuclear weapons capability. In an earlier briefing to Congress, National Intelligence director John Negroponte said Iran had not acquired key components required for indigenous nuclear weapons production. "We judge that Teheran probably does not yet have a nuclear weapon and probably has not yet produced or acquired the necessary fissile material," Negroponte told the Senate Select Intelligence Committee on Feb. 2. But Joseph presented an assessment that suggested a breakthrough in Iran's nuclear program. Joseph, responsible for arms control and international security, stressed Iran's expertise in nuclear weapons development, saying Teheran has formed a "very sophisticated, a very advanced scientific and technical community." Joseph refused to suggest a timetable for Iranian development of nuclear weapons. He acknowledged that the United States has failed to obtain numerous details regarding Iran's weapons program. "What is the point of no return [for Iran's nuclear weapons program]?" Joseph asked. "Is it when Iran masters the ability to spin centrifuges, for example, which would demonstrate a capability to produce fissile material for a nuclear weapon? There are many things that we don't know." Officials said the revised U.S. assessment on Iran's nuclear weapons program reflected the latest report by the International Atomic Energy Agency. On Feb. 4, the IAEA passed a resolution that determined that Iran had acquired a document detailing how to produce uranium metal hemispheres "related to the fabrication of nuclear weapon components." It was the first clear reference by the agency of Iran's nuclear weapons efforts. Until November 2005, the IAEA maintained it could find no evidence of an Iranian nuclear weapons program. "There are indications of efforts dealing directly with [Iranian nuclear] weaponization," Joseph said. "There are efforts that deal with conversion." -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
