So says a report from the Institute for Science and International Security, anyway. USA Today notes that the White House still says that Iran is more than a year away from having the capability to build a functioning nuclear warhead, but if the report is true, it may explain why Saudi Arabia and Israel are publicly rebuking the White House:

Zitat

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Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to build a nuclear bomb in as little as a month, according to a new estimate by one of the USA’s top nuclear experts.

The new assessment comes as the White House invited Senate staffers to a briefing on negotiations with Iran as it is trying to persuade Congress not to go ahead with a bill to stiffen sanctions against Iran.

“Shortening breakout times have implications for any negotiation with Iran,” stated the report by the Institute for Science and International Security. “An essential finding is that they are currently too short and shortening further.”

David Albright, president of the institute and a former inspector for the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency, said the estimate means that Iran would have to eliminate more than half of its 19,000 centrifuges to extend the time it would take to build a bomb to six months.

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This could explain a few things, especially the Iranian outreach to the US. The Iranians may be so close to a nuclear weapon that negotiations now can’t stop the inevitable “breakout,” which means their bargaining power over sanctions will improve dramatically. They want the bomb in order to make the US pull back in the region — at least as a first stage — and remove the threat of American force. If they’re this close, why not start to sweeten the air just a bit, and try one last time to separate the US from Iran’s enemies in Saudi Arabia?

That’s what Sen. Mark Kirk concludes from the new data:

-SNIP-

Read more:http://hotair.com/archives/2013/10/25/ir...ay-from-a-nuke/