'Telegraph': Sir John Sawers says Iran prevented from getting nuke in 2008, but probably will by 2014, increasing strike possibility.
Sir John
Sawers, the head of the MI6 British spy agency, said that Iran is likely to
obtain a nuclear weapon by 2014, making an Israeli or American strike on
the Islamic Republic more likely by then, The Daily Telegraph reported
on Friday.
“The
Iranians are determinedly going down a path to master all aspects of nuclear
weapons; all the technologies they need,” the spy chief is quoted as saying.
“It’s equally clear that Israel and the United States would face huge
dangers if Iran were to become a nuclear weapon state.
According
to the report, Sir John made his views known in "Civil Service Live,"
a meeting of senior civil servants, a week earlier, during which he credited
covert MI6 operations from preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons
earlier on. Without intervention, he is quoted as saying, Iran may have gone
nuclear as early as 2008.
According
to the report, the UK has worked to ensure international sanctions against the
Islamic Republic were introduced and implemented, and ran operations to slow
the nuclear program's pace.
“I take
great pride in the fact that, in the last ten years, over a number of jobs,
I’ve been involved in an issue of global concern, and I feel that I as an
individual [have made] an impact in the outcome of events,” he said.
The
European Union banned Iranian oil imports as well as providing insurance for
vessels carrying Iranian oil July 1, and US sanctions have limited Iran's major
trading partners from buying Iranian crude.
At least
four scientists associated with Iran's nuclear program have been
assassinated since 2010, most recently in January this year. Iran has blamed
Israel, the UK and the United states for the killings, and more recently lashed
out against France and Germany as well. Washington has denied any role in
the killings, while Israel has declined to comment.
Iran denies
Western accusations of a covert agenda to develop a nuclear weapon, insisting
it wants to stockpile enriched uranium solely to generate more electricity for
a rapid growing population and radio isotopes for medical treatment.
Talks
between world powers and Iran to resolve the standoff have so far failed to
secure a breakthrough.
*Reuters
contributed to this report.