Publication |
2011.
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Summary/Abstract |
How much Iranian nuclear capability is too much? The simplest answer is that any amount is unacceptable. By learning how to enrich uranium, Iran has given itself the potential to eventually produce enough weapons-grade material for one or more atomic bombs. That risk can only be removed if all Iranian enrichment programmes are eliminated. This belief has long been a mainstay of US rhetoric, if not policy, towards Iran.
But it is far from clear that zero enrichment is a realistic goal. Indeed, despite recent setbacks, Iran's leaders appear determined to continue improving and expanding Iran's enrichment programme; they may even have already decided to eventually build a bomb. The important question, then, is how much Iranian nuclear capability is too much, given the limited (and often costly) options available for curbing Iran.
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