Iran might have enough enriched uranium to build nuclear weapon by next summer, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared at the UN General Assembly. He urged the gathering to draw a “red line” for the Iranian nuclear program.
It is getting “late, very late” to stop the Islamic Republic from having the capability to develop an atomic bomb, Netanyahu stressed to the assembly in New York.
“Iran is 70 per cent of the way there, and are well into the second stage. By next summer, at current enrichment rates, they will have finished the medium enrichment and move on to the final stage. From there it is only a few more weeks before they have enriched enough for a bomb,” he said.
Pointedly nodding at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s reports, the Israeli PM said the only way to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear arsenal is to forbid it from amassing highly enriched uranium. A country like Iran needs thousands of centrifuges to produce the substance, and such facilities cannot be hidden, Netanyahu said.
While talking, Netanyahu took out a basic diagram depicting a bomb split into three sections, with markings indicating 70 per cent and 90 per cent progress.
Then the PM took out a marker and drew his own red line on the chart highlighting the point of no return – the completion of the second stage and 90 percent enrichment.
“I believe that faced with a clear red line, Iran will back down – and it will give more time for sanctions and diplomacy,” he concluded, adding that Israel is already in talks with the US on how to chart a path to preventing the Persian country from acquiring nuclear weapons.
