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Former Ambassador to U.N. Security Council Stuart Holliday on the potential threat from Iran’s nuclear program.
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This Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu standing in front of the UN with a cartoon of the Iranian nuclear threat that was just a few weeks ago to get attention.
And -- -- did now disturbing new report says Iran could be -- clauses two to four months away from producing enough.
Weapons grade uranium to -- nukes with me now story holidays.
-- UN Security Council thanks for coming back on the show.
I do what I think of this new report.
Saying that they may be able to produce enough uranium -- within two to four months -- mean it shortens the time line a lot.
It does and it's disturbing.
To say the least but it does confirm what the intelligence community has said which is that.
It's not only the the amount of uranium.
That -- needs to produce a weapon but the time.
In which they would take convert that so 45 kilograms or what they're looking for in the 24 months is.
Is a close window now they don't know if they've made the decision to convert.
But to have that capability.
Would be very disturbing for the United States the international community.
One of the other things to watch on the timeline of course is that they have to create you know a nuclear trigger so to speak the international atomic energy agency says.
The big thinks they may have worked secretly on testing such a thing although Iran of course denies it what do you think.
Well if they don't allow the EIA inspectors in there it's going to be very hard to ascertain what they've been doing it is estimated it would take -- -- more months to actually produce a bomb after the the initial enrichment to produce one bomb but nonetheless we don't know what's going on and I think -- indicative of the kind of obfuscation that this regime is undertaken.
And you -- Benjamin Netanyahu when he stood up there -- and he -- that illustration which.
To some people mocked as silly but he is trying to get people's attention he certainly did he said that the world has.
Until next summer at the latest to stop Iran.
Do you think that's a time -- because I think a lot of people at home feel like they've been hearing about this for a long time but maybe -- become numb to it.
Well they're -- two issues here one of them is what the definition of that trigger is for you know military strike we've had this question about whether it's.
-- where nuclear capability or a nuclear bomb and you've had this kind of quieting down of the tensions between.
The administration Netanyahu during the last few weeks of the election season by -- you see that rhetoric and that pressure heat up.
No matter who's elected and I think that it's going to be looking towards some kind of boiling point before summer.
-- now there was another report that was making the rounds today that the Israeli intelligence community considered highly reliable and it was saying that.
Iran is actually slowed down progress on their nuclear weapons program by eight months saying that they were diverting.
Some of the matter that they were using to science programs here to medical research.
It what would be the big -- first told you believe this.
And second of -- what would be the point of slowing things down a little bit does it mean that pressure is working.
-- water haven't seen that report but I would say that one of two things is this going on one of them is.
There's you know we were able to.
Look at a slowdown as a result of technical difficulties that they encountered.
Many say of course this is the product of concerted intelligence efforts.
To get into the cyber.
Network but really what could be happening -- the pressure could be getting to a point where.
They want to keep things on a slow summer instead of having them.
In effect precipitate.
Further sanctions.
So the other -- very clever about playing it both ways and the real the real issue is what are they saying publicly and what are they doing in private.
What do you think America should be doing right now about this problem.
What we've got a lot of economic upheaval in Iran.
It appears that whether the sanctions of these currency us senators that were set up be running economies on its heels.
Ahmadinejad said -- so I think a round of sanctions.
That -- US in the EU to really focus on.
The related industries in the -- sector -- keep the pressure on and I think that -- will likely see a calculation we hope.
By the government that it's not it's not worth it but the problem is in an on democratically elected system.
Even if the people are suffering there's there's economic on -- -- doesn't require the revolutionary guard for example to.
To come in the line and to stop their activities ambassador thanks for coming on -- -- thank you.
