Morning Bell: The Iranian Threat That Can’t Be Ignored

Mike Brownfield / June 10, 2011

The leader of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once said that Israel must be “wiped off the map.” And now Iran stands poised to have its finger on the trigger of a nuclear weapon, yet the Obama Administration continues to remain virtually silent on the nascent threat, all while the clouds amassing over the Iranian Peninsula are growing too dark to ignore.

Yesterday, following news that Iran plans to triple its output of higher-grade uranium, the United States, China, Russia, Britain, France and Germany issued a joint statement calling for Iran to provide more information about its nuclear intentions and that the country’s nuclear drive is causing “deep concern” to a number of world powers. Meanwhile, the United States issued sanctions on Iran’s police chief and three government entities it says are involved in the brutal repression of Iranian citizens.

But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Heritage’s James Phillips writes that Iran’s uranium enrichment program has increased by 84 percent since 2009, according to a new study by the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center, and author Greg Jones projects that Iran could produce enough weapons-grade uranium to fuel a nuclear weapon in about 62 days if it chose to do so. (more…)