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Clock Ticking for West to Act on Iranian Nuclear Program

IN THIS ISSUE: Clock ticking for West to act on Iran, Six-party talks "likely to resume soon," Russian nuclear sub 'ready' for India transfer, Fukushima asked to store nuclear waste, French train China nuclear experts, missile defense agency will fight parts defects.

Published on December 29, 2011
 

Clock Ticking for West to Act on Iranian Nuclear Program

John Vincour | New York Times

Soltanieh

The Iranian nuclear clock ticks faster and louder in 2012. Ehud Barak, the defense minister of Israel, said in late November that it was probably a question of nine months before Iran's attempt to acquire nuclear weapons moved into a "zone of immunity" where it could no longer be stopped.

Two weeks ago, his counterpart in Washington, Leon E. Panetta, the secretary of defense, estimated that it was likely to be "about a year, perhaps a little less" until Iran could have a nuclear weapon. Carefully imprecise, Mr. Panetta has said, "If we have to do it, we will deal with it" — without specifically explaining what "it" is.

George Perkovich, who deals with the Iranian issue as vice president for studies at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, describes the situation this way: "In a suboptimal world, the preference in Washington and almost everywhere else would be, 'Let's keep muddling along, playing this along, till after the election."'     Full Article



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Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.