Though Iran could have enough nuclear bomb-making material as early as next year, the top U.S. defense official said Sunday that the Obama administration is not prepared “to even talk about containing a nuclear Iran.” Speaking on “Fox News Sunday,” Defense Secretary Robert Gates said that all options are still on the table if Iran were to go nuclear, but he thinks there is still “some time to continue working this problem,” conceivably  through the use of economic sanctions. “I don’t think we’re prepared to even talk about containing a nuclear Iran. I think we’re — we — our view still is we — we do not accept the idea of Iran having nuclear weapons. And our policies and our efforts are all aimed at preventing that from happening,” he said. Gates said “targeted economic pressures” has “real potential” to add difficulties to the Islamic Republic, whose government is growing increasingly isolated. Sanctions, he said, along with helping U.S. allies in the Gulf area improve their defenses and improve their military capabilities could get the government in Tehran “finally to come to their senses and realize their security is probably more endangered by going forward than by stopping.” Earlier this month, Gates said that Iran could have enough enriched uranium to make a nuclear bomb in the next one to three years, but may need a little more time to work up its weaponization and a delivery vehicle. Iran has always denied that it is trying to develop nuclear weapons, saying it needs enriched uranium to run a nuclear power reactor and to create medical isotopes. Iran’s Supreme National Security Council on Friday said the United Nations created a double standard by imposing sanctions on Iran earlier this month when Israel has never said definitively whether it has nuclear weapons. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad previously has said he wants Israel wiped off the map.  “The resolution about the Islamic Republic of Iran’s peaceful nuclear activities is based on trumped up charges that have never been proven,” the council said in a statement. New sanctions will attempt to freeze operations of 40 Iranian companies and organizations — 15 linked to Iran’s powerful Revolutionary Guard and 22 involved in nuclear or ballistic missile activities.  The sanctions ban Iran from pursuing “any activity related to ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons” and bar Iranian investment in activities such as uranium mining and the purchase of certain heavy weapons, including attack helicopters and missiles. The European Union adopted its own new sanctions against Iran on Thursday, a day after the Obama administration imposed U.S. penalties against additional individuals and institutions it says are helping Iran develop its nuclear and missile programs and evade sanctions. Gates said the sanctions add to an increasingly alienated government in Tehran. “Actually, what we’ve seen is a change in the nature of the regime in Tehran over the past 18 months or so. You have — you have a much narrower based government in — in Tehran now. Many of the religious figures are being set aside,” he said.  “They appear to be moving more in the direction of a military dictatorship. Khameini is leaning on a smaller and smaller group of advisers. In the meantime, you have an illegitimate election that has divided the country.” The Associated Press contributed to this report .

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“With sufficient foreign assistance, Iran could probably develop and test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of reaching the United States by 2015,” says a new 12 page unclassified report prepared by the Department of Defense on the Iran Military Threat. The report says Iran’s military strategy is designed to defend against external or “hard” threats from the United States and Israel. “Iran’s nuclear program and its willingness to keep open the possibility to develop nuclear weapons is a central part of its deterrent strategy,” according to the report. Iran continues being a disruptive force inside Iraq, it alleges. “Iran continues to provide money, weapons and training to select Iraqi Shia militants despite pledges by senior Iranian officials to stop such support,” the report says. “Iran also offers strategic and operational guidance to militias and terrorist groups to target U.S. Forces in Iraq and undermine U.S. interests.” It also outlines what Defense Secretary Robert Gates has called Tehran playing a “double game” inside Afghanistan.  The regime makes big promises to the Afghan government trying to appear to be a good neighbor, and is also sending weapons into the country, and backing a wide range of groups so “it will have a positive relationship with the eventual leaders.” Regarding the effectiveness of Iranian Conventional Forces, “Iran maintains very sizeable military forces, but they would be relatively ineffective against a direct assault by well trained, sophisticated military such as that of the United States or its allies.” It does judge Iran’s unconventional forces, which include paramilitary forces, “would present a formidable force on Iranian territory.” The report outlines Iran’s nuclear weapons capabilities and developments saying it is “keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons,” which is consistent with what we’ve heard from a wide range of U.S. officials. It says the Iranians have gone to great lengths to protect its nuclear infrastructure from physical destruction including using buried and hardened facilities. The final aspects of the report review the regime’s efforts to improve ballistic and cruise missile capabilities. The secretary of defense is required as part of the National Defense Authorization Act to submit a classified and unclassified report on the current and future military strategy of Iran.

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WASHINGTON – In a fresh appeal directly to the Iranian people, President Barack Obama says in an Internet video that the United States wants more educational and cultural exchanges for their students and better access to the Internet to give them a more hopeful future. In the video, the second of his presidency directed at Iran, Obama said that the United States’ offer of diplomatic dialogue still stands but that the Iranian government has chosen isolation. He said the U.S. believes in the dignity of every human being. The White House released the video late Friday, timing it, as it did last year, to coincide with Nowruz, a 12-day holiday celebrating the arrival of spring and the beginning of the new year on the Persian calendar. The video comes as the United States has hit a rough patch in its relationships in the region, particularly with Israel. “The United States believes in the dignity of every human being and an international order that bends the arc of history in the direction of justice — a future where Iranians can exercise their rights, to participate fully in the global economy and enrich the world through educational and cultural exchanges beyond Iran’s borders,” Obama said in the video, which had Farsi subtitles. Obama has signaled a willingness to speak directly with Iran about its nuclear program and hostility toward Israel, a key U.S. ally. At his inauguration last year, the president said his administration would reach out to rival states, declaring “we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.” It’s been a rough road for Obama, and there have been few signs Tehran is loosening its grip after bloody elections marred with allegations of fraud. And efforts to impose new sanctions have been slow to find unified support from U.S. allies. “Our offer of comprehensive diplomatic contacts and dialogue stands,” Obama said in the video. “Indeed, over the course of the last year, it is the Iranian government that has chosen to isolate itself and to choose a self-defeating focus on the past over a commitment to build a better future.” The United States has not had formal diplomatic relations with Iran since the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has criticized Obama as merely a continuation of President George W. Bush’s policies toward Israel. Khamenei has called Israel a “cancerous tumor” that is on the verge of collapse and has called for its destruction. Last year, Obama’s message to the Iranians warned that better relations “will not be advanced by threats. We seek instead engagement that is honest and grounded in mutual respect.” Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said then that Iran would welcome talks with the U.S. — but only if there was mutual respect.

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