A report by the Center for Strategic Studies claims Iraq will complete construction of an enriched uranium plant, capable of producing nuclear weapons, within five to 10 years.
The study says the Iraqis are working on developing missiles with a range of 1,200 miles and trying to construct warheads that can carry biological and chemical weapons.
The researcher, Daniel Leshem, said Iraq is carrying out missile-launching experiments in Mauritania, an Islamic state in West Africa.
Iraq apparently fears Israel will attempt to destroy its missile launchers and has increased the number of launchers under construction.
A report in Sunday’s New York Times confirmed this information through British, American and Israeli intelligence sources, who also said Iraq would need at least two years to begin warhead production.
Although Iraq still faces technical problems for the building of a serious nuclear arsenal, experts quoted by the Times said Iraq had managed to acquire some of the technical expertise and materials necessary to begin nuclear production.
Donald Kerr, an analyst with the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, said: “My own feeling is that it will be five to seven years, provided someone doesn’t destroy Iraq’s industrial capacity before then. The physics of nuclear explosions is fairly well understood, but the engineering of a warhead is a much more difficult matter.”
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