Iran is two years away from developing nuclear bomb: Britain’s spymaster

Iran, which has faced punishing Western sanctions, insists that its nuclear work is for peaceful purposes. (Reuters)

Head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency, MI6, claims that Iran is likely to achieve nuclear weapons capability within two years, increasig prospects of a possible strike against the Islamic republic either by the U.S. or Israel, a British newspaper reported on Friday.

John Sawers disclosed his assessment last week to a gathering of around 100 high-ranking civil servants, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The newspaper said that it was Sir John’s first publicly reported assessment of Iran’s nuclear ambitions since his appointment as head of MI6 in 2009.

“The Iranians are determinedly going down a path to master all aspects of nuclear weapons; all the technologies they need,” he said. “It’s equally clear that Israel and the United States would face huge dangers if Iran were to become a nuclear weapon state.”

He said Iran is only “two years away” from becoming a “a nuclear weapons state.”

Western officials and Israel suspect that Iran is enriching uranium to build a nuclear weapon under the cover of a civilian energy program.Read More........