US accuses Iran of 18-year nuclear weapons plan

Iran has engaged in an 18-year programme to develop nuclear weapons and might be intending to supply them to terrorists, one of the United States’ most senior diplomats claimed tonight.

John Bolton, the US ambassador to the United Nations, accused the regime in Tehran of practising concealment and deception over its nuclear efforts, and their real objectives.

Interviewed on BBC 2’s Newsnight, Mr Bolton said: “I think that the Iranians have been pursuing a nuclear weapons programme for up to 18 years.

“They have engaged in concealment and deception and they’ve engaged in threats before.

“The real issue is whether an international community is going to accept an Iran that violates its treaty commitments under the non-proliferation treaty, that lies about its programme and is determined to get nuclear weapons deliverable on ballistic missiles that it can then use to intimidate not only its own region but possibly to supply to terrorists.”

Tehran insists that its nuclear programmes are designed to generate energy purely for civil purposes. But Washington has long suspected that the oil and gas rich state is trying, covertly, to develop nuclear weapons.

Mr Bolton insisted that the difficult situation facing US forces in Iraq should not deter the US from attempting to prevent countries such as Iran developing nuclear weapons.

‘I think the question of a successfuloutcome in Iraq is one that is very much on the President’s (George Bush) mind and it is always disturbing when Americans die in a faraway place and I think what we want to try and do is give the Iraqis the capability to defend themselves and have their own institutions and representative government.

“There’s no desire on our part to stay any longer than is necessary, but it cannot be a situation where the difficulties that we encounter in Iraq stop us from taking the necessary steps against countries like Iran seeking nuclear weapons.”