Iran on track for nuclear weapon, claims Admiral Mullen

October 3rd, 2009 IAEA: ElBaradei to visit Iran this weekendVIENNA — The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog has confirmed that its director general will visit Iran this weekend. The International Atomic Energy Agency says Mohamed ElBaradei and the Iranians will discuss a broad range of issues, including a covertly built enrichment facility that it recently revealed.

August 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has said that even though the allied forces have challenged Al-Qaeda and its allies in Afghanistan for eight years, the Taliban- Al-Qaeda alliance has now become stronger than ever before. In an interview to The Boston Globe, Admiral Mullen said the Taliban's alliance with Osama bin Laden and other top leaders of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network has become stronger than ever, highlighting that public support to the 'war on terror' in Afghanistan was 'waning'.

July 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Expressing concerns over the expanding terror threat, US Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen has said Al-Qaeda is trying to get hold of nuclear weapons to wreak havoc across the world particularly in America. Speaking at the Junior Statesman Summer School Programme, Admiral Mullen said the leadership of both Al-Qaeda and the Taliban is desperately trying to acquire nukes to target Western countries.

July 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Admiral Michael Mullen, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff (CJCS), has acknowledged the possibility of Iran succeeding in acquiring a nuclear weapon. Admiral Mullen acknowledged this while addressing the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington on Tuesday.

June 17th, 2009 LONDON - Iran is mastering nuclear technology and believes firmly in having the option of a nuclear weapon, the chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, said in a BBC interview Wednesday. "It is my gut feeling that Iran would like to have the technology to enable it to have nuclear weapons," ElBaradei said.

May 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The US Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has said that Pakistan is guarding its nuclear establishments tightly and has taken several security measures for its safety. Addressing a Congressional hearing here, Admiral Mullen assured the Senators that Pakistan's nuclear assets were in safe custody.

May 5th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has played down the nightmare scenario of terrorists taking control of Pakistan's nuclear weapons. "I don't think that's going to happen.

May 5th, 2009 LONDON - The United States has once again expressed fears about Pakistan's nuclear arsenal falling into the hands of the Taliban, as the extremists continue to expand and establish their writ over new areas in the country and inch closer towards Islamabad. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, said he is "gravely concerned" about the "crisis" Pakistan is facing.

April 28th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Michael Mullen is frustrated particularly by the Pakistani political leadership's inability to confront the extremist threat and remains "very alarmed by the growing Taliban threat in the country," his spokesman has said. Admiral Mullen has made two visits to Pakistan in less than three weeks and is "deeply alarmed by what he has found," his spokesman, Captain John Kirby told CNN.

April 27th, 2009 ISLAMABAD - Responding to concerns of the United States and the international community over its nuclear arsenal, Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari has said all nuclear installations in the country are safe. "All Pakistani nuclear installations are under extra security.

April 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Expressing serious concern over reports that the Taliban is inching closer towards Islamabad, the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, has said Pakistan could be taken over by insurgents. "We're certainly moving closer to the tipping point where Pakistan could be overtaken by extremists," The Nation quoted Admiral Mullen, as saying.

April 3rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - The United States has announced a three fold increase in civilian aid to Pakistan, and is also planning to spend another three billion dollars over the next five years to equip and train the Pakistan Army against the Taliban and Al-Qaeda, but the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen has made it clear that there is an urgent need to maintain a check on the aid to ensure its proper and correct use. "There hasn't been an audit trail, and there hasn't been accountability measures put in place, and there needs to be for all the funds," Admiral Mullen told The New York Times.

March 13th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Disputing a claim by an Israeli official that Iran is capable of making a nuclear bomb, two top US intelligence officials have said that Teheran does not yet have the highly enriched uranium it needs to make a nuclear warhead. Meanwhile, a key Security Council committee has reported that Iran had violated the UN sanctions by trying to send weapons-related material to Syria on a cargo ship now docked in Cyprus.

March 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Iran is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons, the US director of national intelligence said Tuesday. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Dennis Blair said: 'Although we do not know whether Iran currently intends to develop nuclear weapons, we assess Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to develop them.' 'Iran does not currently have a nuclear weapon' because it lacks weapons-grade highly enriched uranium, but it could obtain enough as early as 2010, Blair said.

March 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Iran has enough material to build a nuclear bomb, said US Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Michael Mullen Sunday. 'We think they do, quite frankly,' Mullen told CNN's 'State of the Union' presided by John King, when asked if Iran had enough nuclear material to build the nuke.