Iran 'six months from being nuclear threat'

IRAN could accelerate efforts to build a nuclear bomb if Israeli forces target its atomic facilities, military analysts have warned.

- Michael Knowles

Tehran may have as many as 10 nuclear weapons ready in just over six months, giving its rulers a new "stronger position in negotiations".

Olli Heinonen, a former deputy director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which monitored Iran's nuclear programme, said that if Tehran "rushed" it could have the arsenal in place by next April.

He added: "You cannot wipe out a country with those missiles, but you can threaten it and be in a much stronger position in negotiations."

Mr Heinonen said the payload in a ballistic missile can be switched from a conventional warhead to a nuclear one, adding: "That is why the US and UK are worried."