Iran is still at least two to three years away from building a
nuclear weapon, a British leading think tank reported on
Wednesday.
"If and when Iran does have 3,000 centrifuges operating
smoothly, the IISS estimates it would take an additional 9 - 11
months to produce 25 kg of highly enriched uranium, enough for one
implosion-type weapon," said John Chipman, director of London-based
International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS).
"That day is still 2 - 3 years away at the earliest," Chipman
said at the launch of the IISS annual publication "The Military
Balance."
Iran was on track to complete its goal of producing 3,000
centrifuges by the end of March or shortly thereafter, said
Chipman, adding that at least 500 of these had been obtained from
the black market.
"Getting the centrifuge cascades to function properly is then
another task of an entirely different order of magnitude, which
would take at least another year but probably longer," said he.
The United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 1737 on
Dec. 23, 2006, calling on Tehran to suspend its enrichment
activities and imposing sanctions on Iran's nuclear and missile
programs but was rejected by Iran which vowed to install at least
3,000 centrifuges by the end of March.
(Xinhua News Agency February 1, 2007)
