Iran 6 Months From Nuke-Ready: Report

Senate report warns uranium stockpile could cause regional arms race
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted May 8, 2009 3:30 AM CDT
Iran 6 Months From Nuke-Ready: Report
Iranian technicians are seen at a new facility producing uranium fuel for a planned heavy-water nuclear reactor, just outside the city of Isfahan.   (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)

Experts believe Iran could be only 6 months away from having enough weapons-grade material for a nuclear bomb, CNN reports. While there's no indication Iran is preparing to build a bomb, the status of the country's nuclear program remains largely unknown, and its uranium stockpile has the potential to destabilize the region, said a Senate report released yesterday.

"Many nations in the region already fear an ascendant Iran," the report said. "Simply producing a large enough stockpile of low-enriched uranium for weapons could confer on Iran new leverage over the critical region. It also could motivate some of its neighbors to seek their own nuclear capability." (More Senate Foreign Relations Committee stories.)

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