If this story is accurate, then things are going to start to become very interesting in the powder-keg also known as the Middle East. It is highly unlikely that Israeli PM Netanyahu will allow Iran to possess this capability, obviously due to Iran's continual threats to eliminate his entire nation.
Iran can enrich enough weapons-grade uranium for a single nuclear bomb in about a month, according to an estimate by a nuclear non-proliferation think tank released late Wednesday.
The report by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, claims Iran has significantly shortened the time needed to “break out” to a nuclear bomb with the installation of new centrifuges in the Fordo and Natanz plants, and advanced IR-2 machines at Natanz.
According to ISIS, which has tracked Iran’s nuclear program for several years, Tehran could make have enough uranium for a nuclear bomb in 1-1.6 months by converting all of its 20-percent enriched stockpile. Using only 3.5% enriched uranium, Iran could have four nuclear bombs in about two months, the group estimates.
Using new IR-2 centrifuges, which are currently being installed in Natanz, the time could be shortened to just a week or two, according to the study.
“The shortening breakout times have implications for any negotiation with Iran. An essential finding is that they are currently too short and shortening further, based on the current trend of centrifuge deployments,” the report reads.
“If Iran successfully produced enough [weapons-grade uranium] for a nuclear weapon, the ensuing weaponization process might not be detectable until Iran tested its nuclear device underground or otherwise revealed its acquisition of nuclear weapons,” it reads.
Meanwhile, back to the story of "road paving" and technology for the coming Tribulation:
Merkel Frosty On The U.S. Over 'Unacceptable' Spying Allegations
German Chancellor Angela Merkel accused the United States of an unacceptable breach of trust on Thursday after allegations that the U.S. bugged her personal mobile phone, and she indicated data agreements with Washington may have to be revised.
Arriving for a two-day summit in Brussels overshadowed by the allegations of eavesdropping by the U.S. National Security Agency against Italy,France and Germany, Merkel said she had told President Barack Obama in a telephone conversation late on Wednesday that the acts were unacceptable.
"It's not just about me but about every German citizen.
"I repeat that spying among friends is not at all acceptable against anyone, and that goes for every citizen in Germany."
The stern words were her first public pronouncement after the German government said on Wednesday it had evidence the chancellor's mobile was "monitored" by the NSA. Germany's foreign minister summoned the U.S. ambassador to Berlin to discuss the issue, an event diplomats said was almost unprecedented in the past 60 years.
Germany's frustration follows outrage in France after Le Monde newspaper reported the NSA had collected tens of thousands of French phone records between December 2012 and January 2013, and an Italian news magazine reported on Thursday that the NSA had monitored sensitive Italian telecommunications.
The revelations could have an impact on major legislative and trade initiatives between the United States and the European Union, with some German lawmakers saying negotiations over an EU-U.S. free-trade agreement should be suspended.
Brazil and Germany today joined forces to press for the adoption of a U.N. General Resolution that promotes the right of privacy on the internet, marking the first major international effort to restrain the National Security Agency's intrusions into the online communications of foreigners, according to diplomatic sources familiar with the push.
The effort follows a German claim that the American spy agency may have tapped the private telephone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and dozens of other world leaders. It also comes about one month after Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff denounced NSA espionage against her country as "a breach of international law" in a General Assembly speech and proposed that the U.N. establish legal guidelines to prevent "cyberspace from being used as a weapon of war."
The effort follows a German claim that the American spy agency may have tapped the private telephone of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and dozens of other world leaders. It also comes about one month after Brazilian leader Dilma Rousseff denounced NSA espionage against her country as "a breach of international law" in a General Assembly speech and proposed that the U.N. establish legal guidelines to prevent "cyberspace from being used as a weapon of war."
Although the U.N.'s ability to fundamentally constrain the NSA is nil, the mounting international uproar over U.S. surveillance has security experts fearful for the ramifications.
"The worst case scenario I think would be having our European allies saying they will no longer share signals intelligence because of a concern that our SigInt is being derived from mechanisms that violate their privacy rules," said Ray Kimball, an army strategist with policy experience on European issues. He stressed that he was not speaking for the military.
Although the Germans have not indicated such a move is in the works, they do have a game plan for making their surveillance complaints heard. The International Covenant on Political and Civil Rights was written in 1966 and came into force in 1976, decades before the internet transformed the way people communicate around the world. A provision in the international covenant, Article 17, says "no one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor and reputation." It also states that "everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks."
Anyone who thinks this issue will only resonate in Brazil, Mexico, France, Italy, and Germany -- where the Snowden leaks recently revealed NSA datamining -- isn't paying attention.
According to the latest internal NSA memo leaked to The Guardian, the list of targeted nations is even longer, which could give this U.N. effort additional momentum. The NSA monitored the communications of 35 unnamed "world leaders," whose phone numbers were given to the intelligence agency by a U.S. government official, according to the report. The agency has been collecting phone numbers, email addresses, and residential addresses of foreign officials from the people in the U.S. government who are in touch with them. The U.S. official, who is not named, personally handed over 200 phone numbers about the people he or she was in touch with.
U.S. Monitored The Phone Calls Of 35 World Leaders
Israel Wary Of American Promises On Iran
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu walked away from Wednesday's meeting with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Rome seemingly still unconvinced that Washington knows what it's doing vis-a-vis Iran's nuclear program.
Israel has grown increasingly uneasy as the US and other Western powers appear ready to drop sanctions against the Islamic Republic in return for what amount to "cosmetic concessions."
At the start of Wednesday's meeting, Kerry sought to calm the Israelis by stating, "We will need to know that actions are being taken, which make it clear, undeniably clear, fail-safe to the world, that whatever program is pursued is indeed a peaceful program."
America's top diplomat reiterated his position that "no deal is better than a bad deal."
But during their marathon seven-hour sit-down, The New York Times cited Netanyahu as telling Kerry that "a partial deal that leaves Iran with these capabilities is a bad deal."
Indeed, the deal currently being touted by both Iran and the Obama Administration would permit Tehran to keep most of its nuclear program intact, including its uranium enrichment facilities, so long as Iran promises to never build an atomic bomb.
"We, of course, cannot agree to that," Israeli Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said later in an interview with Israel Radio.
Like Netanyahu, Steinitz believes the West is making a big mistake by not actually increasing sanctions in order to bring Iran to a breaking point and truly bring an end to the nuclear crisis.
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