Iran Wants Nuclear Deal in Months, Says President Rouhani

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani says he wants to reach a deal with world powers on Tehran's nuclear programme in three to six months. Mr Rouhani said he was fully empowered by Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei to negotiate on the issue.

 

The uncompromising language in the paper, and the fact that Iran asked the U.N. agency to make it public, may disappoint those hoping for a softening of the Islamic state's nuclear stance under new President Hassan Rouhani, a relative moderate.

 

Although Turkey does stand to benefit if chemical weapons are removed from Syria, Ankara is increasingly concerned that the deal is an internationally acceptable alternative to the difficult but potentially necessary option of toppling Assad by force. 

 

"In the last (third) nuclear test, they could not finish the task of miniaturization ... but if they have a chance for more nuclear tests, maybe one more, they would be able to have small and more reliable device for their missile," Li Bin, a nuclear policy expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said.

 

A think-tank warned on Tuesday that if the Pentagon does not make moderate reductions to its nuclear-weapons programs and related missions, it could be forced to accept undesired changes to its atomic assets because of “sequestration” budget cuts.

 

The cost of a proposed uranium processing facility for nuclear weapons in Oakridge, Tenn., has soared as high as $11.6 billion — 19 times the original estimate — even as critics accuse the Energy Department of overstating the need for spare bomb parts.