TIMES ONLINE: It may be too late to stop Iran developing a nuclear weapon, a former senior US defence official has warned.
The official, who has long experience with several US administrations, said President Obama had waited too long to take tough action against Tehran.
“Fifteen months into his administration, Iran has faced no significant consequences for continuing with its uranium-enrichment programme, despite two deadlines set by Obama, which came and went without anything happening,” the former official, who was speaking on condition of anonymity, told The Times. “Now it may be too late to stop Iran from becoming nuclear-capable.”
He said that the wrong signals had been sent to Tehran. “First, there was talk of crippling sanctions, then they would be biting, and now we don’t know how tough they’re going to be. It depends on the level of support given by Russia and China — but neither is expected to back measures against Iran’s energy sector.”
He outlined one nightmare scenario, in which Iran developed a nuclear weapon and passed it on to Hezbollah, which it sponsors — and which has an artillery and missile inventory larger than many countries in the region.
Underlining the gloomy prognosis of Iran’s progress towards becoming a nuclear-weapon state, Tehran announced yesterday that work would begin on a new enrichment plant — part of a significant expansion of the programme. President Ahmadinejad had approved the “designated location of a new nuclear site”, an Iranian official said. >>> Michael Evans, Pentagon Correspondent, Washington | Tuesday, April 20, 2010
