Iran has four tons of 20 percent enriched uranium, enough to make four crude nuclear bombs in a year, Israeli Military Intelligence head, Maj.Gen. Aviv Kochavi said on Thursday.
"Iran is vigorously pursing military nuclear capabilities and today the intelligence community agrees with Israel on that," he said. "Iran has over four tons of enriched materials and nearly 100 kilograms of 20-percent enriched uranium – that's enough for four bombs. It [nuclear bomb] will be done… within one year,” he added.
Speaking at the Herzliya Conference in Tel Aviv, Kochavi also said that while Iran states its nuclear program is peaceful, Israel has “conclusive evidence that they are after nuclear weapons."
Kochavi said the Iranian nuclear program, which has begun enriching uranium to 20 percent from which it can be further enriched into fissile warhead material, stems from several motives, including regional hegemony and deterrence.
On January 23, the EU voted to ban oil imports from Iran, after the Islamic Republic announced earlier this month that it had launched a nuclear enrichment program at a well-protected underground facility near the holy Shia city of Qom.
The embargo is set to come into force in July. Iran has responded by introducing an export ban on crude oil shipments to Europe, and also threatened to block the Strait of Hormuz, the main export route for oil supplies from the Middle East.
The International Monetary Fund has warned that sanctions on Iran could push up oil prices 20-30 percent to $140 per barrel unless alternative supplies from developing countries come on line.
