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Iran 3-8 Years Away from Bomb – UN Nuclear Chief
A nuclear non-proliferation conference opened in Luxembourg last weekend to work out a plan to counter growing nuclear threats and push world leaders to implement it. Speaking about Iran, a supposedly imminent threat, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said Teheran is probably three to eight years away from producing a nuclear bomb.
The meeting brought together 50 leading non-proliferation experts. The conference, which was largely held close-door, focused on nuclear terrorism threats, a threat of the collapse of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty and Iran and North Korea’s nuclear programs. Experts concluded that the nuclear containment system no longer works as terrorists who may seize nuclear weapons will not be afraid of a retaliation strike.
The Luxembourg summit was held while Iran failed to meet another UN deadline on its nuclear activities. Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency Mohamed ElBaradei said that Iran needs to suspend its enrichment activities as “a confidence-building measure but the international community should do its utmost to engage Iran in comprehensive dialogue.”
Mr. ElBaradei said it was difficult to say exactly how far Iran was from developing a nuclear weapon, if it wanted to, but added that that it could happen in the next decade. “In other words, three to eight years from now,” he said. “We are moving toward Iran building capacity without the agency in a position to be able to verify the nature or the scope of that program. If we continue in that direction, we will end up with a major confrontation.”
Director of the Russian Atomic Energy Agency Sergey Kirienko represented Russia at the gathering, lobbying Russia’s initiative to set up an international uranium enrichment facility. He discussed the idea with Mohamed ElBaradei and secured his support, according to a source of Kommersant.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of May 28, 2007
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