WASHINGTON: Iran does not yet have any highly enriched uranium, the fuel needed to make a nuclear warhead, two top US intelligence officials told Congress yesterday, disputing a claim by an Israeli official.
US National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lt. Gen. Michael Maples said Iran has only low-enriched uranium — which would need to be refined into highly enriched uranium before it can fuel a warhead. Neither officials said there were indications that refining has occurred.
Their comments disputed a claim made last weekend by Israel’s top intelligence military official, who said Iran has crossed a technical threshold and is now capable of producing atomic weapons. The claim made by Israeli Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin runs counter to estimates by US intelligence that the earliest Iran could produce a weapon is 2010, with some analysts saying it is more likely that it is 2015.
Maples said the United States and Israel are interpreting the same facts, but arriving at different conclusions. “The Israelis are far more concerned about it,” Maples told the Senate Armed Services Committee.
The status of Iran’s nuclear program has been the subject of conflicting public statements by top military and intelligence officials recently in the wake of UN revelations that Iran has more low-enriched uranium than previously thought.
Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen differed over Iran’s capability. While Mullen said Iran has sufficient fission material for a bomb, Gates insisted “they are not close to a weapon at this point.”
Blair firm on Freeman
Dennis Blair also stood firm behind former US Ambassador Charles Freeman, his pick for a top analysis job, despite strong congressional criticism.
Freeman, who was US ambassador to Saudi Arabia during the Gulf War, had harshly criticized the Israeli government, the Iraq war and the war on terrorism in general.
Blair said Freeman’s strong opinions are exactly why he wants him to be chairman of the council. “I think I can do a better job if I am getting strong analytical viewpoints than if I am getting pre-cooked pablum,” Blair said.
