Iran to make nuclear weapon in 1-2 years

Iran could make a nuclear weapon in as little as one or two years if it wished, an influential think-tank said on Thursday - but industrial sabotage and the Stuxnet computer worm had probably slowed its progress. Evidence showed "beyond reasonable doubt" that Iran was seeking the capability to produce nuclear weapons should its leaders decide to go down that route, the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said in a report.
However, allegations that Iran had carried out prohibited chemical or biological weapons activities "cannot be determined from the available public information and may have been exaggerated," the IISS said in a 128-page report on "Iran's nuclear, chemical and biological capabilities".
Iran is locked in a standoff with the United States and other powers over its nuclear programme, which Tehran says is peaceful but the West suspects aims to develop a nuclear bomb. IISS said Iran's nuclear programme looked to have been dented by the Stuxnet computer worm, widely believed to have been built by Western or Israeli experts for the purpose. Iran says the worm infected some computers at its primary nuclear plant but did not affect operations.
Western and other intelligence agencies have also been involved in a world-wide campaign to slow nuclear smuggling and make it harder for Tehran to acquire essential equipment. Some previous estimates over the last decade had suggested Iran could have a bomb by as soon as late last year. "I think the world has been pleasantly surprised by the limitations that have been imposed on the program through industrial sabotage and the Iranians' reliance on inefficient methods," Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the IISS non-proliferation and disarmament programme, told Reuters.
He said so far Iran's leaders had not gone "all out" to develop a nuclear weapon, but they clearly wanted the option to ramp up production should they make the decision to do so. The United Nations Security Council has imposed four rounds of sanctions on Iran over the programme. Estimates of when Iran might be able to produce a nuclear bomb are important because of speculation that Israel or the United States might launch military strikes to prevent it from doing so. But the head of the IISS said that missed the point.