(Telegraph-UK) Con Coughlin - With each week that passes, Iran's ayatollahs move closer to their goal of building an atom bomb. This is the opinion of the dedicated teams of nuclear experts attached to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, whose task it is to provide a considered judgment to the UN Security Council on the Iranians' ultimate objectives. Nuclear experts at the IAEA now report that Iranian scientists at Natanz - a 250,000-acre complex containing two vast underground bomb-proof bunkers designed for enriching uranium to weapons grade - are taking advantage of the diplomatic stand-off to intensify their efforts to develop the technical capability to enrich uranium. The Bush administration is correct in its assessment that, without the threat of serious military action, the Iranians are unlikely to take seriously the West's determination to prevent them acquiring a nuclear arsenal. If the current round of diplomacy is to stand any chance of success, then the Iranians must be made to understand that their prevarication tactics at the UN can no longer be tolerated. For while Jack Straw, the Foreign Secretary, regards the concept of military action against Iran as "nuts," it would be even nuttier to allow Teheran to have an atom bomb.
2006-04-12 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive