Though there appears to be virtually no evidence that they have any inclination to do so and considerable evidence to suggest they aren’t currently doing so, US Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Glyn Davies is now accusing Iran of desperately trying to retain the ability to hypothetically create a single atomic weapon if they chose to do so at some later date.
The latest rumor mongering is based on assessments which US intelligence agencies have gleaned from the IAEA’s own report on Iran, which suggest that Iran may have enough low level enriched uranium stored up to use at the soon-to-be-open Bushehr nuclear power plant that, if they decided to enrich it further they’d have an outside shot at constructing a single, usable weapon of some sort. At the same time intelligence officials concede that Iran is not doing so.
And indeed, the IAEA’s report does caution that there are some questions which remain unanswered, but it has continued to be able to confirm with absolute certainty that none of the low enriched uranium is being diverted to any other purpose. The IAEA has cameras installed at all of Iran’s enrichment facilities, so this hypothetical additional enrichment, even if Iran did possess the technology to do so (and there is some doubt to this) could not be done without immediate international attention.
But with the US poised to make a new push for crippling sanctions this month, even speculative claims are better than no claims at all, and as they face an uphill battle to convince Russia and China of the need to destroy Iran’s economy to punish them, stories of what they might theoretically some day be able to do if they wanted to are sure to continue to pour out of Washington.
You have to look at the subtleties. Actually the administration's claim that Iran could develop a nuke represents a back-track from Obama's position in January that Iran already is "pursuing" a nuke.
recent news report:
Washington's chief envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency says a recent report by the nuclear watchdog shows that Iran is now either very near or already has enough low-enriched uranium to produce one nuclear weapon. Glyn Davies says that could happen if Iran made a decision to further enrich the material to weapons grade.
http://wire.antiwar.com/2009/09/09/us-serious-con…
Obama, Jan. 11, 2009
. . .they [i.e. Iran] are pursuing a nuclear weapon that could potentially trigger a nuclear arms race in the Middle East.
http://abcnews.go.com/ThisWeek/Economy/Story?id=6…
Israel is want to destroy the long term possibility of Iran's nuclear sophistication, which means war and occupation in any case. The decimated intelligentsia in Iraq provides a model which Israel hopes to carry out with US help in Iran.
They want to wipe out the whole program before Iran has a nuclear energy industry.