The US Secretary of Defense said that the US will not allow Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. In an interview with CBS’s Scott Kelly on Monday night, Leon Panetta said the Iranians have reached a point where they can assemble a bomb in a year or potentially less.
Due to the importance of the secretary’s remarks, we reprint the text of the interview published on CBS website:
Pelley: So are you saying that Iran can have a nuclear weapon in 2012?
Panetta: It would probably be about a year before they can do it. Perhaps a little less. But one proviso, Scott, is if they have a hidden facility somewhere in Iran that may be enriching fuel.
Pelley: So that they can develop a weapon even more quickly...
Panetta: On a faster track....
Pelley: Than we believe....
Panetta: That's correct.
Pelley: If the Israelis decide to launch a military strike to prevent that weapon from being built, what sort of complications does that raise for you?
Panetta: Well, we share the same common concern. The United States does not want Iran to develop a nuclear weapon. That's a red line for us and that's a red line, obviously, for the Israelis. If we have to do it we will deal with it.
Pelley: You just said if we have to do it we will come and do it. What is it?
Panetta: If they proceed and we get intelligence that they are proceeding with developing a nuclear weapon then we will take whatever steps necessary to stop it.
Pelley: Including military steps?
Panetta: There are no options off the table
Pelley: A nuclear weapon in Iran is...
Panetta: Unacceptable.
Panetta also told CBS News that while Iran needs a year or less to assemble a weapon, he has no indication yet that the Iranians have made the decision to go ahead.
12 comments:
People like Panetta said the same thing about North Korea yet they became a nuclear power. And the U.S. didn't do a damn thing about them before.
What makes you think the U.S. will do something about Iran? Nothing.
In the words of former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates: "Only Iran can stop Iran going nuclear."
Keep on remarking........
Mat,
Nothing more to discuss... they will not know of the day, nor the hour.
That said, the regime still has time to turn back. They make this choice now, and own whatever follows.
I see there was another major "accident" in Iran's petro industry today.
Hmmmmmm....I wonder if the regime will deny or downplay this (again)?
Duqu is turning out to be a master stroke! Bravo & Well Played to Israel, America and India!
Hyped up anti-Iran rehtoric is because of the anger of being outsmarted out of Iraq and thze apparant failing in Syria.
It'll pass and Iran will turn out stronger. Israel The start and end of Irans and Middle East problems is on the other hand losing turf by the day.
Anon 12:10 PM
Either the major news outlet didn't pick this up or you're pulling B.S. out of your ass.
I'm more inclined to believe the latter.
Anon 3:46 PM
It's definitely B.S. The fact that he mentioned "Duqu" is a dead giveaway that he doesn't know what the hell he's talking about because according to security researchers, Duqu was designed to steal information from vendors of industrial control systems. It was never designed to cause actual physical damage to industrial control systems.
This clueless dunghead (Anon 12:10 PM) should have done his research before making a fool of himself.
5:05 PM
You may want to complete a bit of reading on the Duqu Stars virus combination, then you can report back!
Stuxnet was harmless too, right?
Keep reading & believing your Irainian governments censored information sources and you will continue to live like a mushroom, (living in the dark and fed dung, is that what you like?).
Anon 6:10 PM
You may want to complete a bit of reading on the Duqu Stars virus combination, then you can report back!
Sorry to disappoint you, but I have already done my extensive research on the Duqu Stars virus combination and I still stand by what I had said.
Stuxnet was harmless too, right?
No and that's the difference between Stuxnet and Duqu. One was designed to cripple industrial control systems, and the other was designed to steal secrets.
Keep reading & believing your Iranian governments censored information sources and you will continue to live like a mushroom, (living in the dark and fed dung, is that what you like?).
Oh, shut up you idiot. For your info, my sources consist primarily of Western media outlets and your dubious claim about petro industry accident would have been picked up by any of these outlets. Even Iranian controlled media outlet would have report this, but so far nothing happens which lead me to believe your claim is nothing more than a fabrication.
All nuclear-armed states especially the U.S. are really haunted by their own-made shadows.
Keep on remarking........
OR
Keep on barking..........?
Hello December 20, 2011 3:46 PM Anon,
FWIW, I also read in Mehr yesterday about an explosion and fire at a refinery in Isfahan. The story was both in the Persian and English online versions. I am not sure why, but today it is no longer online. The news story said that the refinery was the second largest in Iran and it sounded like the major damage and fire was at a power plant located at or in the refinery property. The Mehr news said that there were several injuries and one possible death and a major power outage resulted from the blast and fire, also that
authorities had isolated access to the plant.
The story said fire was believed to be caused by an accident.
I wonder if there will be any more news about it today.
Nouri
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