Obama says he will continue to keep all options on the table, if the negotiation with Iran fails
By Sara Rajabova
US President Barack Obama said it would take Iran "over a year or so" to develop a nuclear weapon.
In an interview with Channel 2 he said he did not want to "cut it too close" and declined to rule out the possibility of military action, BBC reported.
"There's a window - not an infinite period of time - but a window of time where we can resolve this diplomatically, and that it is in all of our interests," said.
Tehran insists it is refining uranium only for peaceful energy purposes.
But Israel has repeatedly threatened a military strike if Iran appears to be on the verge of obtaining a bomb.
Washington is pushing for more time to allow diplomacy and economic sanctions to run their course.
"We think that it would take over a year or so for Iran to actually develop a nuclear weapon but obviously we don't want to cut it too close," Obama said.
"My message (to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu) will be the same as before: if we can resolve it diplomatically, that's a more lasting solution. But if not, I continue to keep all options on the table," Obama noted.
A February 21 U.N. report said Iran had 167 kg (367 pounds) of mid-level enriched uranium, in gas form, after converting some of the stockpile to solid reactor fuel. Experts say it would need 240 kg to 250 kg of the gaseous material for a bomb, though the fuel would have to be further enriched to 90 percent purity.
Yet Iran has also been expanding centrifuges at an underground site so that it could rapidly ramp up mid-level enrichment if it wanted to, diplomats say.
However, the U.S. National Intelligence Director James Clapper said on Tuesday that U.S. assessed Iran could not divert safeguarded material and produce a weapon-worth of WGU (weapons-grade uranium) before this activity is discovered.
On the other hand, Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi said if Iran acquires military nuclear capability, the situation in the Middle East will change forever.
"With a nuclear Iran, the rules of the Middle Eastern game would not only change overnight; they would change irreversibly," Terzi said at the 13th Annual Herzliya Conference at the Dan Accadia Hotel in Herzliya, Israel, on Wednesday, Israel's Ynetnews reported.
"Should Tehran acquire nuclear capabilities, others would follow and the Middle East - the very doorstep of Europe - would enter this new regional nuclear race," he added.
However, on Wednesday International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Yukiya Amano said that Iran is using its nuclear energy program solely for peaceful purposes.
"Iran has a comprehensive agreement with the IAEA and it is subject to UN Security Council resolutions which are legally binding. This is the standard," Amano said.
"In light of this standard, I can say that declared activities and material of Iran are staying in peaceful purposes," he said.
Amano stressed that the West's dispute over Iran's nuclear program should come to an end "through diplomatic means and dialogue."
"I will continue the dialogue with Iran and hope that we can report positive results through our next meeting in June," he said, referring to the next meeting of the IAEA Board of Governors.
Iran and the IAEA wrapped up their latest round of talks on the Iranian nuclear energy program in Tehran on February 13.
The United States, Israel and some of their allies suspect Iran of developing a nuclear weapon. But Iran denied it, stating that it does not seek to develop nuclear weapons, using nuclear energy for medical researches instead.
Iran rejects the allegations, arguing that as a committed signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to use nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.