Iran has created a stockpile of enriched uranium that could be used to
manufacture four nuclear weapons, head of the IDF's Military
Intelligence Maj.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi said on Thursday.
Speaking at
the Herzliya Conference, Kochavi said that once Iran's Supreme Leader
Ayatollah Ali Khamenei made the decision to go to the so-called
"breakout stage" and begin enriching uranium to military-grade levels,
it would take the Iranians a year to make a crude device and another
year or two to manufacture a nuclear warhead that can be installed on a
ballistic missile.
Iran, he said, has obtained 4 tons of uranium enriched to 3.5 percent and another 100 kilograms enriched to 20%.
"Iran's
motivations are: to create hegemony in the region; deterrence; and to
become an international player," Kochavi said. "They claim that they are
developing the program for peaceful purposes but our intelligence shows
without a doubt that Iran is continuing its work on developing a
nuclear weapon."
Despite Iran's continued development of its
program, international sanctions are effective and have the potential to
significantly undermine the regime's continued efforts.
Kochavi
said that Israel was currently threatened by 200,000 rockets and
missiles in the hands of Israel's enemies. The missiles, he said,
currently covered the entire State of Israel and were growing in their
ranges and the size of their warheads.
He also said that Iran's
Quds Force - responsible for the regime's overseas military operations -
was continuing its efforts to carry out an attacks against Israel and
the Jewish people throughout the world.
Last month, two Iranian attempts to launch an attack against Israeli embassies were thwarted in Azerbaijan and Thailand.