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Israel, Arabs Warn Against Allowing Iranian Nuclear Enrichment
(Washington Post) Joby Warrick - "Iran must not have a nuclear weapons capability, which means that they shouldn't have centrifuges for enrichment," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said after meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome. "I think a partial deal that leaves Iran with these capabilities is a bad deal." U.S. officials say any agreement with Iran must include a combination of strict curbs on its nuclear activities and aggressive monitoring to ensure that Iran cannot use its nuclear facilities to make weapons. To Israeli officials, the only fail-safe solution would be to require complete dismantlement of Iran's uranium-enrichment program, which has grown since 2003 to include two enrichment plants containing tens of thousands of fast-spinning centrifuges to make nuclear fuel. Iran's current, 11-ton stockpile, with additional processing to enrich it to weapons grade, could provide Iran with enough fuel for 15 nuclear bombs. Proponents of the no-enrichment approach note that Iran has no inherent need to make its own nuclear fuel, which can be easily purchased from other countries.