Olli Heinonen Interviewed About Iran's Nuclear Program

Olli Heinonen was interviewed by the Swedish publication Hufvudstadsbladet on February 3 about Iran’s nuclear program.

Following is an English-language translation by Olli Heinonen of the first part of the interview, published in Swedish. To access the full interview (in Swedish), see http://hbl.fi/2014-02-03/563066/iran-bara-manader-fran-ett-karnvapen (subscription required)

IRAN ONLY A FEW MONTHS FROM A NUCLEAR EXPLOSIVE

In three months time, Iran could have enough enriched uranium for a nuclear device. Then you need another two to three weeks of work with uranium metal components and a month later Iran may have a primitive nuclear weapon,  says Olli Heinonen, former deputy director of the IAEA in an interview with HBL in Washington.

President Obama has argued that Iran needs a year to manufacture a nuclear weapon, but he is referring to a nuclear missile.

But nuclear charges can be transported in other, less sophisticated manners, says Heinonen, who currently works as a researcher at Harvard University.

When Pakistan made ​​its first nuclear test in 1998, it had no missile. Their first mechanism to deliver the bomb to its target was a C-130 transport aircraft and later with a fighter plane.