Iran probably 3-8 years off nuclear capacity: IAEA

Luxembourg, May 24: Iran is probably between three and eight years away from producing a nuclear weapon if it decided to take that route, International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei said today.

''I tend, based on our analysis, to agree with people like John Negroponte and new director of the CIA, who are saying that even if Iran wanted to go for nuclear weapon, it would not be before the end of this decade or sometime in the middle of the next decade. In other words three to eight years from now,'' he told a news conference in Luxembourg.

ElBaradei, where he was attending a conference on nuclear energy, said his top priority was to prevent Iran achieving industrial-scale production of enriched uranium to make room for a negotiated settlement.

Reuters>