U.S. general: Iran efforts at nuclear bomb slowing down

U.S. General David Petraeus said on Tuesday Iranian efforts to develop a nuclear weapon appear to have been delayed "a bit" and voiced confidence it would not have a bomb this year.

The comments by the head of the U.S. Central Command, which oversees wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, underscored the Obama administration's message to Israel and Gulf allies -- that there is time to pressure Iran to abandon its nuclear weapons program by imposing more economic sanctions.

U.S. President Barack Obama's top military advisers, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have been playing down the effectiveness of using military force against Iran.

"It has, thankfully, slid to the right a bit and it is not this calendar year, I don't think," Petraeus told a Senate panel when asked when Iran would have a nuclear weapon.

Iran denies it is seeking to build nuclear weapons.

Petraeus said while Obama had "explicitly stated that he has not taken the military option off the table," the administration's focus was on using different types of sanctions to get Tehran to change its behavior.

Petraeus has acknowledged that contingency planning was under way should Obama decide on military action but declined to discuss details during the open Senate hearing.

Last month, the U.S. director of national intelligence, Dennis Blair, said Iranian advancements in enriching uranium and other areas showed the government was "technically capable" of producing enough highly enriched uranium for a weapon in the "next few years, if it chooses to do so."

Blair cited information published by the International Atomic Energy Agency showing that the number of centrifuges installed at Iran's enrichment plant at Natanz had grown to more than 8,000 from about 3,000 in late 2007.

But he said Iran appeared to be "experiencing some problems" at Natanz and was operating only about half of the installed centrifuges, constraining its overall ability to produce larger quantities of low-enriched uranium.

It was not immediately clear if Petraeus was referring to those problems.

While the nuclear program may have been slowed, Iran continues to expand the scale, reach and sophistication of its ballistic missile forces, U.S. intelligence officials say.

To counter that threat, the United States has expanded land- and sea-based missile defense systems in and around the Gulf. Petraeus said this "regional security architecture" included a network of shared early warning systems and ballistic missile defenses.

Some lawmakers point to signs that the Obama administration is moving to a containment strategy, rather than one aimed at denying Iran a nuclear weapon.

Petraeus declined to comment on what he termed a "big policy hypothetical."

He said current U.S. policy was "very clear" in that "the president has said that Iran cannot have nuclear weapons."

China 'more concerned' over Iran, but wary of sanctions

Meanwhile, the Chinese foreign minister said earlier Tuesday that China has become more concerned about international tensions over Iran's nuclear program, but remains doubtful that sanctions can resolve the stand-off.

Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi was speaking after talks with visiting British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, where one of the key issues on the table was Iran.

Yang's comments suggested that he had given little ground on Western calls that Beijing back proposed new sanctions over Tehran's disputed nuclear activities, which China could block as a veto-wielding permanent member of the UN Security Council.

"Regarding the Iran nuclear issue, I wish to point out that this issue is the subject of widespread attention in the international community," Yang told reporters.

"China has become more concerned about the current situation," he said, adding that Beijing was still seeking a diplomatic solution.

Western powers say Iran wants the means to make nuclear weapons and has violated non-proliferation safeguards. German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday that the time had come for new sanctions.

Iran says its uranium enrichment activities are to make fuel for planned nuclear power plants.

China has resisted calls to tighten the economic screws on one of its major suppliers of oil, and Yang repeated Beijing's long-standing position that sanctions could not resolve the tensions. But he stopped short of outright opposition.

"I have said before that sanctions do not provide a fundamental solution to the Iranian nuclear issue, ultimately this issue has to be resolved through peaceful negotiations," he said.

"We will continue to make active efforts to bring about a diplomatic solution to the Iran nuclear issue."

A draft Western proposal calls for restricting more Iranian banks abroad, but does not press for sanctions against Iran's oil and gas industries.

At the news briefing, Miliband described tackling Iran's nuclear program as a "test for all of us" and noted that China had registered its increasing concern.

"We have a shared goal in ensuring that Iran lives by its commitments under the non-proliferation treaty, and we are going to work very closely together to achieve it," he added.

China is one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, each holding the power to veto resolutions. It backed previous Iran resolutions, after working to cut measures that could threaten flows of oil and Chinese investments.

In 2009, Iran was China's third biggest source of imported crude oil, behind Angola and top supplier Saudi Arabia. Iran supplied China with 23.1 million metric tons of crude, or 11.4 percent of China's total crude imports.

While Beijing abstains from Security Council votes on decisions it dislikes, it is much less willing to use its veto and risk diplomatic isolation, especially if fellow Security Council member Russia backs a resolution.

	China FM Yang Jiechi.
	Photo by: (Reuters)