REASSURING?

U.S.: Iran Nuke Not Imminent

Still at least a year away.

Iran’s nuclear program is nothing to worry about, at least not yet. The U.S. has convinced Israel that even if Iran were to scramble to build a nuclear device, it would take at least a year because of a host of internal struggles. According to the New York Times, American and Israeli officials now believe breakout is unlikely anytime soon. “We think that they have roughly a year dash time,” said Gary Samore, President Obama’s top adviser on nuclear issues. “A year is a very long period of time.” Officials added that if Iran were to take the critical enrichment steps toward a nuclear device, inspectors would be able to detect them within weeks. In Iran, the race to develop nuclear capability has become a prickly issue. “The argument is over how far to push the program, how close to a weapon they can get without paying an even higher price,” one senior U.S. administration official said.