'Iran could be year from nuke'
Ambassador Dore Gold: Tehran not far from obtaining enough fissionable material to produce nuclear bomb
Yaakov Lappin
One year from now, Iran could possess the means of producing a nuclear bomb - that was the chilling message delivered by Ambassador Dore Gold during an interview with Ynetnews Tuesday.
Gold, who has written numerous books on the Middle East, is President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA), and has served as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations.
He was responding to a statement released Tuesday morning by the International Atomic Energy's Director (IAEA), Mohamed El-Baradei, who said Iran had made massive progress in creating uranium enrichment centrifuges, so much so the world should consider it a 'fact that Iran can enrich uranium independently.
Gold said the information revealed by El-Baradei undercut previous estimates of when Iran could weaponize its nuclear process.
He answered a number of questions submitted by Ynetnews readers, and said Iran was also busy developing ballistic missiles that can reach central and Western Europe.
"If all Iran wanted to do was destroy the State of Israel, it would simply invest in the 1300 kilometer range Shihab - 3 missile, which which it already has," Gold said, adding that Iran was however developing North Korean missiles with far great ranges.
Gold, who recently published 'The Fight For Jerusalem,' also addressed some of the issues facing Israel's capital city.
He described the argument which cited demography as a reason for handing over Palestinian suburbs of east Jerusalem to the Palestinian Authority as "erroneous," adding that such a move would encourage the Palestinians' "true goal of gaining sovereignty over the Old City."
Iran could be year from nuke
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