Iran’s Ticking Nuclear Time Bomb

James Phillips / June 30, 2010

Leon Panetta, the low-key Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, made an eye-opening disclosure on Sunday that received little attention, yet called into question the Obama Administration’s strategy for preventing Iran from attaining a nuclear weapon.  Speaking on ABC’s Sunday news show, “This Week”, Panetta revealed that Tehran could soon have a nuclear weapon: “We think they have enough low-enriched uranium right now for two weapons.  They do have to enrich it, fully, in order to get there. And we would estimate that if they made that decision, it would probably take a year to get there, probably another year to develop the kind of weapon delivery system in order to make that viable.”

But the CIA director was not optimistic about slowing Iran’s nuclear push through sanctions, the keystone of the Obama Administration’s strategy for preventing a nuclear Iran.  Panetta said:  “I think the sanctions will have some impact. . . . It could help weaken the regime. It could create some serious economic problems. Will it deter them from their ambitions with regards to nuclear capability? Probably not.” (more…)