Iran could double uranium enrichment, UN says

SALZBURG, Austria -- Iran is poised to double its output of higher-enriched uranium at its fortified underground facility, the UN nuclear agency said yesterday -- putting Tehran within months of being able to make the core of a nuclear warhead.

The finding also calls into question a tentative new U.S. plan meant to induce Tehran to compromise on its nuclear program by offering a rollback of crippling new sanctions if Tehran cuts back on enriching uranium to 20 percent.

In its report, obtained by The Associated Press, the International Atomic Energy Agency said Iran was ready within days to ramp up its production of 20 percent enriched uranium at its plant at Fordo using 700 more centrifuges.

That would double Iran's present output and cut in half -- to three months -- the time it would take to acquire enough of the substance needed to make a nuclear weapon.

Iran says it has no interest in making nuclear arms, just nuclear power for its citizens, but the United States and other nations believe otherwise.

The report also clashed with comments by Israeli officials suggesting that Iran has slowed the timetable for reaching the ability to make nuclear weapons. The discrepancy is important because the earlier Israeli comments implied that Israel would have more time before deciding whether to hit Iranian facilities in an attempt to slow Tehran's program.

While experts agree that the Islamic Republic could assemble enough weapons-grade uranium to arm a nuclear weapon relatively quickly, they note that is only one of a series of steps needed to create a working weapon. They say that Tehran is believed to be years away from mastering the technology to make a fully operational warhead.