A senior member of Israel’s Security Cabinet played down U.S. intelligence findings that Iran froze its nuclear weapons program in 2003.
The U.S. National Intelligence Estimate, released Monday, assesses that Iran put its nuclear weapons program on hold four years ago following international pressure. But the report also notes that Iran’s current uranium enrichment program could produce enough fissile material for an atom bomb by 2010.
Israeli Infrastructure Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer said Tuesday that Jerusalem must continue treating Iran’s nuclear projects as a threat to the Jewish state’s existence.
“I just don’t buy that Iran stopped producing nuclear weapons but continued enriching uranium for civilian needs,” Ben-Eliezer, a former defense minister, told Army Radio.
“Israel must not take any risks on this matter. We must not wake up one day to discover that Iran has the bomb.”
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