Killing Time

Iran's efforts to produce highly enriched uranium are in chao

'Iran's efforts to produce highly enriched uranium, the material used to make nuclear bombs, are in chaos and the country is still years from mastering the required technology.Iran's uranium enrichment programme has been plagued by constant technical problems, lack of access to outside technology and knowhow, and a failure to master the complex production-engineering processes involved. The country denies developing weapons, saying its pursuit of uranium enrichment is for energy purposes.....Despite Iran being presented as an urgent threat to nuclear non-proliferation and regional and world peace - in particular by an increasingly bellicose Israel and its closest ally, the US - a number of Western diplomats and technical experts close to the Iranian programme have told The Observer it is archaic, prone to breakdown and lacks the materials for industrial-scale production.'

But the sub editor makes clear: 'Boasts of a nuclear programme are just propaganda, say insiders, but the PR could be enough to provoke Israel into war.' Note the 'provoke' as though nuking a state with no nuclear weapons (and which has no technical ability to make any anytime soon) is a reasonable response.

posted by Brendan @ 12:36 AM