Iran would have its own nuclear weapons in two years, warns CIA head
By ANIMonday, June 28, 2010
WASHINGTON - Despite the sanctions imposed by the United States, Iran continues to work on its nuclear programme and there is a high possibility of it developing a nuclear weapons in two years time, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) chief Leon Panetta has said.
In his first television interview since becoming the CIA head, Panetta said Iran has enough low-enriched uranium right now to develop at least two nuclear weapons.
“We would estimate that if they made that decision, it would probably take a year to get there, probably another year to develop the kind of weapon delivery system in order to make that viable,” Panetta said during ABC’s ‘This Week’ programme.
Responding to a question whether the sanctions imposed on Tehran would deter the leadership from calling off its nuclear ambitions, Panetta said: ” Probably not?”
“Will have some impact on Iran and could help weaken the regime. Will it deter them from their ambitions with regards to nuclear capability? Probably not,” the CIA chief said.
He also warned that Israel could strike Iran’s nuclear facilities in the next two years, as it feels “more strongly that Iran has already made the decision to proceed with the bomb.” (ANI)
