By Stan Goodenough
May 07, 2008
Israelis awoke Tuesday to the news that Iran is far further along the road to going nuclear than previously thought.
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad could have his hands on an atomic bomb by mid-2009.
This is according to an exclusive report run as the top story on the website of The Jerusalem Post, and comes on the day Israeli patriots - and their friends - are remembering the thousands who have sacrificed their lives to secure the Jewish state against its myriad enemies in the otherwise Muslim Middle East.
"Israel now believes the Islamic Republic will master centrifuge technology and be able to begin enriching uranium on a military scale this year," the Post said. "According to the new timeline, Iran could have a nuclear weapon by the middle of next year."
In its unswerving quest to obtain a nuclear weapon Iran is seeking to position itself at the forefront of the Islamic intent to remove Israel from the region.
A senior Israeli defense official told the Post Tuesday that while Iran had had to overcome many technical obstacles on its road towards nuclearization, it was now set to, within six months, master the ability to enrich uranium from which to manufacture a warhead.
Not only is such a warhead almost within reach, but Iran is also believed to be developing the means to deliver the weapon to an Israeli city on a low-flying missile designed to evade Israel's Arrow anti-missile system, the newspaper said.