JTA

Published: 11/06/2007

Iran could procure nuclear weapons by 2009, a top Israeli intelligence analyst said.

Brig. Gen. Yossi Baidatz, chief analyst for Israel's military intelligence, told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Tuesday that if Iran's nuclear program goes unchecked, it could produce warheads by the end of 2009 or the beginning of 2010.

Western powers believe Iran is two or three years further away from nuclear bomb-making capability.

Baidatz also said that the hard-line regime of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad looks strong despite its unpopularity at home and foreign pressure to abandon its atomic ambitions.

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