US says Iran has enough uranium gas to make 10 nuclear
weapons
Map and information on key Iranian Nuclear Facilities Click Here
The United States has alleged that Iran has enough uranium gas to make 10 nuclear weapons
and has called for new inspections in the Islamic Republic, a diplomat in Vienna told AFP.
A senior US official made the claim at a closed-door meeting in Vienna of the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations' nuclear watchdog, the
diplomat said.
US ambassador Gregory Schulte told the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors that Iran had
failed on every count to meet the watchdog's call for it to suspend uranium enrichment.
Uranium is enriched so it can be used as fuel in a nuclear power reactor or, if enriched
further, to make an atomic weapon.
Schlulte said Iran had 85 tons of the uranium hexafluoride (UF6) gas and
said this was enough to make 10 atom bombs, the diplomat reported. He said there now
should be special inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities.
The U.S. threatened U.N. sanctions if Iran
didn't halt uranium enrichment -- a process that can lead to nuclear weapons. Israel
hinted it might strike Iran militarily. Vowing to retaliate if attacked, Iran insisted on
its right to "peaceful nuclear technology" as a signatory of the nuclear
nonprolifera-tion treaty.
If diplomacy fails, there will be few options left. China, which imports oil from Iran,
has indicated that it would oppose sanctions. Military action, which has been discussed,
might not work. Iran is believed to have dozens of underground nuclear facilities. |
