MI chief: Iran 'buying time' while building nuclear bomb

Iran has crossed a major technological threshold in its nuclear program, according to Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin, head of the Israel Defense Forces Military Intelligence.

Speaking at the cabinet meeting yesterday, Yadlin noted that, "Iran's ability to reach a military nuclear capability is a matter of adjusting its strategy vis-a-vis the goal of developing a nuclear bomb."

The top IDF intelligence officer said Iran "has stockpiled hundreds of kilograms of uranium at low levels of enrichment, and is hoping to take advantage of the dialogue with the West to buy the time necessary to enable it to develop a nuclear bomb."

Yadlin explained that the new approach of the Obama administration, which calls for dialogue with Iran, is being cautiously received in the Middle East.

"Moderate Arab states believe that this [the dialogue] will be used by Iran and Syria, who will waste time under the guise of talk, while continuing their support for terrorism," Yadlin said. "The extremist axis hopes that the U.S. will indeed alter its stance, but also suspects that this is only the preamble to creating a more effective coalition against them."

A week ago, the International Atomic Energy Agency released a report concluding that Iran had managed to enrich sufficient uranium to produce a single nuclear bomb. Subsequently, this was acknowledged by the head of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip, Yadlin said that Hamas does not itself launch rockets against Israel because it has been deterred from doing so.

"The ones who are firing are the other groups," Yadlin noted. "Hamas prefers to reach an agreement on a lull that will open the crossings and allow reconstruction."

The head of MI also said that Hamas is trying to enforce a cease-fire through arrests and confiscation of arms, but the Islamist organization is not going out of its way to halt rocket fire completely because it believes that a low level of tension serves its goal of reaching an agreement quickly.

Yadlin also commented on efforts to establish a Palestinian unity government and noted that, "the shared interest of Fatah and Hamas may result in a government of technocrats, who will focus on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip and prepare for elections, but this will not be a government that will achieve common political goals and it will not be able to bridge the ideological chasm between the two organizations."

With regard to the situation along the border with Lebanon, Yadlin said Hezbollah is still contained and deterred by Israel. "The economic crisis is also affecting Hezbollah and Syria, who are finding it difficult to fund elections campaigns in Lebanon [scheduled in June], as well as the procurement of some of their military equipment."

Also yesterday, Iran test-fired a new air-to-surface missile, according to a report in the Iranian media. The test was carried out despite the desire of the administration of new U.S. President Barack Obama to engage Iran in direct talks if it "unclenches its fist."

Iran's Fars News Agency said the domestically produced missile had a range of 110 km. (70 miles) and was designed for use by military aircraft against naval targets.

"Now these jet fighters have acquired a new capability in confronting threats," the semi-official news agency said. Iran's Press TV initially said a long-range missile had been tested, but later also used Fars' description of it.