(Washington Post) Intelligence agencies are being forced to dramatically shorten estimates for when Iran may acquire nuclear weapons. But equally striking is the extent to which Iran's breakthrough caught the U.S. and others by surprise. Iran has built a clandestine and highly sophisticated nuclear infrastructure that would allow it to seek uranium-based weapons. "Here we suddenly discover that Iran is much further along, with a far more robust nuclear weapons development program than anyone said it had," Secretary of State Colin Powell said Sunday on CNN. "It shows you how a determined nation that has the intent to develop a nuclear weapon can keep that development process secret from inspectors and outsiders, if they really are determined to do it."
2003-03-11 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive