Iran Nuclear Watch: Bush Administration – “We Are Very Close to the “POINT OF NO RETURN”

US Undersecretary of State for Arms Control, Robert Joseph, seen 13 April 2006. The United States, seeking to step up pressure on Iran, urged an embargo on the sales of arms and sensitive equipment to Tehran unless it gives up its suspected nuclear arms ambitions.

World Tribune.com: State: ‘Iranians have put both feet on the accelerator’

The Bush administration, in what appeared to be a rebuff to the U.S. intelligence community, said Iran is approaching the point of no return in terms of its indigenous nuclear capability.

Officials said the State Department has determined that Iran has reached or was close to completing the nuclear fuel cycle. They said this meant that Iran could complete the process that begins with the extraction of uranium from ore, production of feeder gas and the enrichment of uranium to the level required for reactor fuel.

“We are very close to that point of no return,” Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph said. “And I think that’s a view that was shared â€” that is shared by many others.”

And the international community thinks that the United States and Israel WILL ALLOW the Iranian Mullahs and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad develop nuclear weapons to wipe Israel off the face of the planet?

Doh…..NO!

And does ANYONE think that the United States will be BULLIED by a third world power into military inaction and stalemate?

Doh…..NO!

“It’s fair to say, I believe, that the Iranians have put both feet on the accelerator,” Joseph said. “They’re moving very quickly to establish new realities on the ground associated with their nuclear program.”

Officials said Iran has been advancing rapidly toward its goal of industrial production of enriched uranium. They said this would eventually include weapons grade material.

“Iran has acquired the confidence and the capability of running centrifuges over a sustained period of time, allowing it to produce enriched uranium,” Joseph said.

“Perhaps most disturbing, at least in my calculation, is the announcement that they are operating a centrifuge cascade consisting of 164 centrifuges,” Joseph said. “Every nuclear physicist that I have talked to in the past has always suggested that 164 is a key number, because once you’re able to operate, over a sustained period of time, 164 centrifuges in cascade and feed into that this material, this UF-6 that I talked about, you’re well on your way to an industrial scale capability in terms of the production of enriched uranium.”

But, this is in stark contrast to last week’s assessment by John Negroponte the National Intelliegence Director who has said that Iran is many years away from having a nuclear weapon.

And who is correct?

The assessment by the administration of Iran’s nuclear achievements contrasted with that of the U.S. intelligence community. On April 20, National Intelligence Director John Negroponte played down Iran’s claim of uranium enrichment, saying Teheran would require several more years to produce a nuclear weapon.

Officials said Negroponte’s statement reflected a dispute over the meaning of the “point of no return.” They said some government analysts define this as the production of sufficient fissile material for a nuclear weapon, while others assert that Teheran must actually assemble a nuclear warhead.

“There is an earlier point of no return, and that is when Iran has acquired the confidence and the capability of running centrifuges over a sustained period of time, allowing it to produce enrichment uranium,” Joseph said. “And again, the key point there has always in the past been the 164-cascade centrifuge.”

The United States will wait for the IAEA report on the 28th and a United Nations Security Council decision subsequently. Once the non-decision by the United Nations is made…..all bets are on President Bush imposing uniateral economic and travel sanctions on Iran.

The B-2 are warming up in their hangars.