U.S. Says Iran Near Nuke Point Of No-Return

The Bush administration, in what appeared to be a rebuff to the U.S. intelligence community, has asserted that Iran was approaching the point of indigenous nuclear capability. Officials said the State Department has determined that Iran has reached or was close to completing the nuclear fuel cycle. They said this meant that Iran could complete the process that begins with the extraction of uranium from ore, production of feeder gas and the enrichment of uranium to the level required for reactor fuel. ‘We are very close to that point of no return,’ Undersecretary of State Robert Joseph said. ‘And I think that's a view that was shared -- that is shared by many others.’ Joseph, responsible for arms control and international security at the State Department, told an April 21 briefing that the West would soon no longer have the ability to stop Iran's nuclear program. He endorsed Iran's claim of producing 110 tons of uranium hexafluoride, or UF-6, the feeder gas for enrichment in centrifuges.