The recently-revealed Iranian nuclear facility in the Shi'ite holy city of Qom has "no possible civilian use," Military Intelligence chief Maj.-Gen. Amos Yadlin said Tuesday, directly contradicting statements made by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in September.
This satellite image shows a suspected nuclear facility under construction inside a mountain northeast of Qom, Iran.
Photo: AP
Speaking at a briefing of the Knesset's Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, Yadlin said that the Qom facility was designed for the enrichment of uranium, and at full capacity can hold 3,000 advanced centrifuges.
Ahmadinejad had claimed that the facility was built solely for peaceful purposes.
Yadlin said that the Israeli intelligence assessment is that Iran was interested in a "horizontal expansion" of its nuclear production capacity, so that when Teheran decides to advance to nuclear weapons capability, it will be able to do so in the shortest possible period of time.
He reiterated comments he made during a similar briefing six months ago, during which he had said that "Iran is intentionally advancing its nuclear development in such a way so as not to cross any nuclear red lines by enriching low-grade uranium that is not sufficient for weapons development, but that can quickly be adapted to weapons-grade uranium in such a short period of time that the process can't be sabotaged."
Yadlin emphasized that Iran was "competent in enrichment technology" and has not thus far been moved by the international response to its nuclear program.
Yadlin noted that although the international deadline for talks with Iran was set for the end of 2009, sanctions against Iran had more chance of success than in the past because of the current economic and political conditions in the country.
"Iran isn't North Korea," he said.
On the other hand, said Yadlin, China and Russia had still not signed on to supporting any international sanctions against Teheran.
Yadlin said that one important goal for Israel was to prevent the entry of any of the 3,000 centrifuges from being installed at the Qom site.
Arab countries, according to Yadlin, are afraid of Iran's nuclear development, and are speeding up their own civilian nuclear projects.
