Via the AFP at Political Gateway:

The United States alleged Wednesday that Iran has enough uranium gas to make — if sufficiently enriched — 10 nuclear weapons and has called for new inspections in the Islamic Republic.

A senior US official made the claim in a speech to a closed-door meeting in Vienna of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog.

US ambassador Gregory Schulte told the IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors that Iran had “failed on each and every count” to bow to the watchdog’s call for it to suspend uranium enrichment, according to a copy of his speech obtained by AFP.

“It already has a 85-ton stockpile of UF6 (uranium hexafluoride gas) which, if enriched, could produce enough material for about 10 nuclear weapons,” Schulte alleged.

For uranium gas to used as fuel in a nuclear power reactor it first has to be enriched. It has to be enriched still further before it can be used for a nuclear weapons.

Schulte said the information on the amount of UF6 Iran reportedly possessed came from a report from IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei that was presented to the IAEA members last week and was being discussed in Vienna on Wednesday.

Lot’s going on in Vienna folks! As if that isn’t enough good news for one day, the Israelis put the UN on notice, as reported by Reuters.

BERLIN (Reuters) – If the U.N. Security Council is incapable of taking action to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons, Israel will have no choice but to defend itself, Israel’s defense minister said on Wednesday.

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz was asked whether Israel was ready to use military action if the Security Council proved unable to act against what Israel and the West believe is a covert Iranian nuclear weapons program.

“My answer to this question is that the state of Israel has the right give all the security that is needed to the people in Israel. We have to defend ourselves,” Mofaz told Reuters after a meeting with his German counterpart Franz Josef Jung.

No witty banter — this stuff is too scary for that! (db)

Technorati Tags: Iran, Nuclear Weapons, Israel, U.N. Security Council, IAEA, Vienna

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