Nuclear Iran by 2007

Tom Newton Dunn, The Sun:

Iran's nuclear bomb plans will be unstoppable by 2007, it emerged last night. The shock forecast puts massive pressure on Tony Blair and US President George Bush to solve the growing security crisis. And it dramatically increases the chances of an American air strike against the rogue Islamic state.

Israeli officials revealed yesterday that Iran will have completed work on key machinery needed to build nukes by early next year.

One said: “Iran is racing to the point of no return. Action needs to be taken as soon as possible.” READ MORE

Western leaders fear the bomb-building plan could plunge the Middle East into World War Three.

Diplomatic attempts to persuade the Ayatollahs to abandon it have been bogged down by rows with Russia and China.

Previously it was thought Iran was at least two years away from being able to build a nuclear weapon.

But intelligence has shown that Iranian scientists are just months from perfecting the equipment to enrich uranium — the vital ingredient for a bomb.

Iranian state TV yesterday claimed that a radar-evading missile had been successfully fired in the Strait of Hormuz.

The Israeli official added “A nuclear Iran will be a very dangerous place. Iran has taken upon itself to be the great challenger of the West.”

The drastically shortened timescale would give UN sanctions little time to work.

That leaves a military strike as the only option to stop the Doomsday programme.

Israel has refused to rule out taking its own military action against Iran if the rest of the world fails to act.

Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad claims the atomic programme is to produce electricity.

But he has also vowed to “wipe Israel from the face of the map”.

He insisted last month that no power in the world could stop his country’s nuclear ambitions.