Iran ‘dangerously close’ to producing atomic bomb

Agencies | London         

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Iran is “dangerously close” to completing its nuclear weapons program, and will be able to produce an atomic bomb unless the West gets tough on Tehran, Israel’s prime minister has warned.

Naftali Bennett told the UK’s Telegraph newspaper that Western allies are “waking up” to the threat of Iran becoming a nuclear power, as Israeli leaders urged Britain and others to keep up the pressure on Tehran.

“Iran is enriching uranium at an unprecedented rate and moving dangerously close to getting their hands on nuclear weapons,” Bennett said.

His comments come as Tehran reportedly reached uranium enrichment of 60 percent, a level that allows for production of a bomb.

“Without pressure from the west, the Islamic regime in Iran could get their hands on a nuclear bomb very soon,” he said. “The world must take a firm stance … Iran’s nuclear program won’t stop until it’s stopped.”

Israel had asked the UK to establish a so-called “tripwire” mechanism to initiate harsher sanctions against Iran if it continued with its current nuclear efforts. Bennett’s comments came after the UN nuclear watchdog formally censured Iran over its nuclear program on Wednesday, hours after the Islamic Republic said it had disconnected some of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s cameras monitoring its nuclear sites.

Meanwhile, the IAEA said Tehran is still failing to cooperate with investigations into its nuclear program.