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Iran may have nuclear bomb by 2005: US Senator
Washington, July 09: Iran may succeed in producing a nuclear weapon within little more than two years, a US senator said.
Washington, July 09: Iran may succeed in producing a nuclear weapon within little more than two years, a US senator said.
An exiled Iranian opposition group said in Washington yesterday that the Tehran government has two secret nuclear sites, in addition to two others revealed last year.
If confirmed, that would put Iran on a fast track to developing nuclear arms, said senator Sam Brownback, a member of the senate foreign relations committee. "Reports from inside Iran are now estimating that with the discovery of these additional sites, Iran may have the nuclear bomb by the end of 2005," said Brownback.
"One of the sites, Kolahduz, is set in the middle of a major military facility," Brownback said.
"This flies in the face of Iranian claims that their nuclear interest is purely civilian," the Kansas Republican said. Brownback is the author of a bill before the Senate, the Iran Democracy Act, which aims to foster democracy in the Islamic Republic.
The exile group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the political wing of the people's Mujahedeen, said the sites were new evidence of the Islamic Republic's race to develop nuclear weapon.
At a Washington press conference, the NCRI said the new sites were at Kolahduz, about 15 kms west of the Iranian capital, and at Ardekan, about 30 kms north of the central city of Yazd.
Bureau Report
If confirmed, that would put Iran on a fast track to developing nuclear arms, said senator Sam Brownback, a member of the senate foreign relations committee. "Reports from inside Iran are now estimating that with the discovery of these additional sites, Iran may have the nuclear bomb by the end of 2005," said Brownback.
"One of the sites, Kolahduz, is set in the middle of a major military facility," Brownback said.
"This flies in the face of Iranian claims that their nuclear interest is purely civilian," the Kansas Republican said. Brownback is the author of a bill before the Senate, the Iran Democracy Act, which aims to foster democracy in the Islamic Republic.
The exile group, the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), the political wing of the people's Mujahedeen, said the sites were new evidence of the Islamic Republic's race to develop nuclear weapon.
At a Washington press conference, the NCRI said the new sites were at Kolahduz, about 15 kms west of the Iranian capital, and at Ardekan, about 30 kms north of the central city of Yazd.
Bureau Report