http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/06/international/middleeast/06cnd-iran.html?pagewanted=printBritish Report Says Iran 5 Years Away From Nuclear Weapon
LONDON, Sept. 6 - A leading British research institute said today that Iran was at least five years away from producing sufficient material for "a single nuclear weapon" - but only if it chose to ignore international reaction and "throw caution to the wind."
The International Institute for Strategic Studies said its conclusions were based on a variety of public sources of information, including visits to Iranian nuclear sites arranged by the Iranian authorities. "Nevertheless," the Institute's director, John Chipman, told reporters, "there remains a good deal that cannot be known for certain from the outside."
Dr. Chipman was presenting a report at a diplomatically delicate time. Iran angered western negotiators by resuming limited uranium conversion activities at a plant in Isfahan on Aug. 8, ending a suspension of nuclear activities agreed with the European Union last November.
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Western nations, including the United States, have threatened to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council, where it could face an array of penalties over its nuclear policies. Initially, a European official said, the intention is to seek "the backing, the weight" of the Security Council to isolate Iran internationally.