Tom Baldwin, Washington | November 22, 2008
US President George W. Bush is to hold White House talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday after publication of a nuclear watchdog's report this week showing Iran may have stockpiled enough enriched uranium to make a nuclear bomb.
The timing of the talks, between two lame-duck leaders with only weeks to go before they leave office, is intriguing. Israel has stated repeatedly that it would be unacceptable for an Iranian regime to acquire nuclear weapons. Although Tehran insists its uranium enrichment program is for peaceful purposes, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed to wipe Israel off the map.
During his visit to Washington, which begins tomorrow, Mr Olmert is expected to meet Vice-President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
Intelligence sources have said the prospect of Israel taking pre-emptive military action to knock out Iran's nuclear facilities appears to have become significantly more likely in recent weeks. Such an operation would require at least tacit US co-operation because it would almost certainly involve Israeli warplanes flying through US-controlled airspace in Iraq.
The International Atomic Energy Agency believes Iran has amassed 630kg of low enriched uranium, up from 480kg in late August. Some experts believe this is enough to produce the weapons-grade material needed for a crude nuclear device similar in size to the one the US used to destroy the city of Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "It's concerning. This is a matter that will be taken up next week at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting." Asked if Tehran now had sufficient material to build a bomb, he suggested that there were different opinions. "Some said it was enough; others said it was not enough, but close," Mr McCormack said. "In any case, you don't want Iran to get close."
In its report, the IAEA said Iran was working hard to roughly double its number of operating centrifuges. European diplomats say Iran might have 6000 centrifuges enriching uranium by the end of the year - and plans to install a further 3000 early next year.
The White House, announcing the meeting with Mr Olmert, gave little indication that Tehran's nuclear ambitions would be at the top of the agenda. Mr Bush's press secretary, Dana Perino, said they would discuss "the continuing efforts to bring peace to the Middle East and a wide range of international issues".
Barack Obama is known to have raised the issue of an attack on Iran when he visited Israel this year. Diplomats in Washington have confirmed he discussed with European leaders concerns that the first months of his presidency could be thrown off-course by such a military crisis.
Although he campaigned on a promise to talk to America's enemies, Mr Obama hopes a more moderate government will emerge from Iran's own elections in June before he opens negotiations with Tehran.
European leaders are in favour of greater engagement with Iran, but wary of undermining the tough united front adopted with the US.
US President George W. Bush is to hold White House talks with Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday after publication of a nuclear watchdog's report this week showing Iran may have stockpiled enough enriched uranium to make a nuclear bomb.
The timing of the talks, between two lame-duck leaders with only weeks to go before they leave office, is intriguing. Israel has stated repeatedly that it would be unacceptable for an Iranian regime to acquire nuclear weapons. Although Tehran insists its uranium enrichment program is for peaceful purposes, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has vowed to wipe Israel off the map.
During his visit to Washington, which begins tomorrow, Mr Olmert is expected to meet Vice-President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and Defence Secretary Robert Gates.
Intelligence sources have said the prospect of Israel taking pre-emptive military action to knock out Iran's nuclear facilities appears to have become significantly more likely in recent weeks. Such an operation would require at least tacit US co-operation because it would almost certainly involve Israeli warplanes flying through US-controlled airspace in Iraq.
The International Atomic Energy Agency believes Iran has amassed 630kg of low enriched uranium, up from 480kg in late August. Some experts believe this is enough to produce the weapons-grade material needed for a crude nuclear device similar in size to the one the US used to destroy the city of Nagasaki at the end of World War II.
US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said: "It's concerning. This is a matter that will be taken up next week at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting." Asked if Tehran now had sufficient material to build a bomb, he suggested that there were different opinions. "Some said it was enough; others said it was not enough, but close," Mr McCormack said. "In any case, you don't want Iran to get close."
In its report, the IAEA said Iran was working hard to roughly double its number of operating centrifuges. European diplomats say Iran might have 6000 centrifuges enriching uranium by the end of the year - and plans to install a further 3000 early next year.
The White House, announcing the meeting with Mr Olmert, gave little indication that Tehran's nuclear ambitions would be at the top of the agenda. Mr Bush's press secretary, Dana Perino, said they would discuss "the continuing efforts to bring peace to the Middle East and a wide range of international issues".
Barack Obama is known to have raised the issue of an attack on Iran when he visited Israel this year. Diplomats in Washington have confirmed he discussed with European leaders concerns that the first months of his presidency could be thrown off-course by such a military crisis.
Although he campaigned on a promise to talk to America's enemies, Mr Obama hopes a more moderate government will emerge from Iran's own elections in June before he opens negotiations with Tehran.
European leaders are in favour of greater engagement with Iran, but wary of undermining the tough united front adopted with the US.
Source: The Australian
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