
 
 
The United  States has confirmed long-time Israeli intelligence reports that Iran is close  to achieving the ability to produce a nuclear bomb. Less than a year ago,  American intelligence officials dismissed Israeli claims  as inaccurate.
“Iran is now either very near or already in possession of  sufficient low-enriched uranium to produce one nuclear weapon, if the decision  were made to further enrich it to weapons grade,” said Glyn Davies, the U.S.  envoy to United Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) meeting in  Vienna. This “moves Iran closer to a dangerous and destabilizing possible  breakout capacity,” Davies added.
In his first meeting with the IAEA  since his appointment by U.S. President Barack Obama, Davies stated, “We have  serious concerns that Iran is deliberately attempting, at a minimum, to preserve  a nuclear weapons option.” Iran has maintained that its nuclear program is  intended for peaceful purposes, but Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also  has stated more than once that the State of Israel should be  annihilated.
Davies’ comments were perhaps the strongest ever to be used  by an American official since Iran has gone full-speed ahead with its nuclear  program, which remains unsupervised by the United Nations agency.
The  U.S. government, prompted by increasing pressure in Congress, wants the U.N. to  impose stiffer sanctions against Tehran to pressure it into cooperating, but  Russia and China have objected. Both courtiers have invested billions of dollars  in the Iranian nuclear plants, one of which is beginning to enrich uranium that  can be used for a nuclear weapon.
In what may be a related matter, Prime  Minister Binyamin Netanyahu reportedly flew to Russia on Tuesday on a secret  mission, apparently over Russian arms deals with Iran and Syria.
The  international community has speculated for more than a year on whether Israel  will attempt a pre-emptive strike on Iran. President Obama has maintained that  diplomatic strong-arming, economic sanctions and offers of trade benefits can  persuade Iran to drop its uranium enrichment project.