N. Korea’s nuclear defiance may embolden Iran, Israelis worry

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.

September 18th, 2009 WASHINGTON - US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday that Iran's defiance on the nuclear issue would lead to "more isolation and economic pressure". "There will be accompanying costs for Iran's continued defiance: more isolation and economic pressure, less possibility of progress for the people of Iran," she said in a speech at the Brookings Institution, a think-tank based in Washington.

September 14th, 2009 Chief UN nuclear inspector urges talks with IranVIENNA — The head of the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency is calling for talks between Iran and the U.S.

September 9th, 2009 VIENNA — The United States says it has "serious concerns" that Iran is deliberately trying — at a minimum — to preserve a nuclear weapons option. Washington's chief envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency says a recent report by the nuclear watchdog shows that Iran is now either very near or already has enough low-enriched uranium to produce one nuclear weapon.

September 7th, 2009 TEHRAN, Iran — President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says Iran is ready to hold talks with the world powers over global challenges including its nuclear program. Ahmadinejad said Monday Iran will initially present its package of proposals to the five permanent members of the U.N.

July 15th, 2009 Gadhafi says Iran nuclear program to be supportedSHARM EL-SHEIK, Egypt — Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi says Iran should be encouraged to pursue its nuclear program as long as it is for peaceful purposes. Gadhafi was addressing Wednesday's opening session of a summit of the Non-Aligned Movement at the Egyptian Red Sea resort of Sharm el-Sheik.

July 2nd, 2009 Obama: Iran cannot be permitted to be nuke powerWASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he is "not reconciled" to the idea of Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon within a year. The president told The Associated Press in an interview that U.S.

June 6th, 2009 Correction: Nuclear Agency-Syria-Iran storyVIENNA — In a June 5 story about the International Atomic Energy Agency probe of the nuclear programs of Syria and Iran, The Associated Press erroneously cited the Institute for Science and International Security as saying Iran could make two nuclear weapons within eight months at its present rate of uranium enrichment. ISIS said that within eight months Iran could produce enough material to turn into weapons-grade uranium for two such weapons, not make two.

May 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that Iran is on track for building a nuclear weapon by 2011. "Certainly from what I've seen over the years, Iran is on a path to develop a nuclear weapon," Mullen said on ABC's "This Week." He added that: "Most of us believe that it's one to three years depending on assumptions on where they are right now.

May 4th, 2009 Obama outreach to Muslims worries IsraelisJERUSALEM — A solid majority of Jewish Israelis worry that President Barack Obama's outreach to the Arab and Muslim world will come at their expense, a new poll showed Monday. Israelis also strongly back stopping Iran's nuclear program, even if Israel has to attack Iran without American approval, according to the survey.

April 13th, 2009 QOM - Iran will be among the major builders of nuclear power plants worldwide within the next ten years, a senior official said. The Deputy Head of Iran Atomic Energy Organization (IAEO) Mohammad Saeedi was quoted by IRNA Monday as saying that Iran attained its nuclear technology despite mounting pressure from home and abroad and added that the natural period for achieving such technology worldwide was 20 to 22 years.

April 1st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has warned that if US President Obama doesn't act to stop Iran developing a nuclear weapon, the Israelis may be forced to attack Iran. An article titled, "Netanyahu to Obama: Stop Iran-Or I Will" in The Atlantic makes the threat of a unilateral strike on Iran's nuclear sites very explicit, reports CBS.

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 6th, 2009 TEHRAN - Iran has urged the international police organisation Interpol to issue arrest warrants for 30 Israelis accused of war crimes, IRNA reported Thursday. Iran's Prosecutor General Saeed Mortazavi made the announcement at the 4th International Conference in Support of Palestine here Wednesday, the report 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.