Iran is probably three to eight years away from producing a nuclear bomb if it so chooses, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog said today.
Underlining what he said was the growing risk of a major confrontation between the West and Iran, International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei appealed for the two sides to restart negotiations on a compromise as soon as possible.
"I tend, based on our analysis, to agree with people like John Negroponte and the new director of the CIA, who are saying that even if Iran wanted to go for a nuclear weapon, it would not be before the end of this decade or sometime in the middle of the next decade. In other words three to eight years from now," Dr ElBaradei told a news conference in Luxembourg.
The IAEA said in a report yesterday that Iran was making substantial advances in uranium enrichment. Several months ago, ElBaradei predicted Iran was four to eight years away from the capability to produce an atom bomb.
The Islamic Republic denies seeking nuclear weapons and says its programme is aimed purely at generating electricity.
Iranian news agencies quoted President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad today as saying Iran's nuclear programme was moving ahead despite Western pressure to halt it.
"With the backing of the Iranian nation we are not afraid of the enemies' ... psychological warfare, and with God's help we have come close to our ultimate goals," he said.
According to a report in the United States today, US and allied intelligence services are attempting to thwart Iran's nuclear programme using industrial sabotage.
CBS News said the methods included modifying components and making changes to technical documents that make them useless.
"Sources in several countries involved told CBS Newsthat the intelligence operatives involved include former Russian nuclear scientists and Iranians living abroad," the network said.
"Operatives have sold Iran components with flaws that are difficult to detect, making them unstable or unusable."
It said industrial sabotage caused some technical difficulties that Iran faced in constantly running its centrifuges - devices that enrich uranium to make it suitable for use as fuel in a nuclear power plant, or to make a bomb.
CBS reported that government representatives pointed to a case of "exploding power supplies" - when equipment regulating voltage in centrifuges at the pilot enrichment facility at the city of Natanz blew up, destroying 50 centrifuges.