Iran Nukes: Nuclear Weapons Material This Year

Iran going nuclear? This from the International Institute for Strategic Studies:

As Iran nears the point – probably sometime in 2009 – of producing enough low enriched uranium for a nuclear weapon if it is further enriched, the question of how Iran can be stopped from having the Bomb will become increasingly urgent. ... For nearly two decades, Western strategy on the Iran nuclear issue emphasised denial of supply. Since 2002, there has also been a demand-side dimension to the strategy, aimed at changing Iran’s cost–benefit calculations through inducements and pressure. But the failure of these policies to prevent Iran from coming close to achieving a nuclear-weapons capability has promoted suggestions for fallback strategies that would grant legitimacy to uranium enrichment in Iran in exchange for intrusive inspections and constraints on the programme.

Me: The Obama White House would probably be happy at this, since it more than likely takes the military option off the table and accelerate progress toward some of "grand bargain" with Mullahocracy in Tehran. Hopefully the goal is use greater economic/political/cultural openess to change the regime from within. (Read Tom Barnett's blog for more on the "soft kill."