Did Iran Admit To Wanting Nuclear Weapons Technology?

It's an anonymous source, so take it with a grain of salt, but according to them, Iran wants to be a "nuclear weapons ready" state. In other words, get the information and the technology to be able to make a weapon in a short time frame, but not actually make a weapon.

While Bush administration officials insist that Tehran intends to build a bomb, Mohamed ElBaradei, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is concerned that Iran wants eventually to become a "virtual nuclear-weapons state," like Japan. That is, it wants to have the technology, industry and expertise to produce a bomb on short notice, but doesn't necessarily want to make or test one. ("Yes, that is what we are doing," a senior Iranian envoy, who was not authorized to speak on the record, told NEWSWEEK last week.) Many Iranians hint that this would be a sufficient strategic deterrent, unless the United States attacks first. But only real negotiations can clarify whether there remains any potential for compromise. As another Iranian diplomat told NEWSWEEK, "Nothing short of negotiations as equal partners, like what we have with Europe, will solve Iran's problems with the rest of the world." Such talks, however, are looking less likely than ever.

How's this for a "strategic deterrent": Stop supporting insurgents, Hezbollah, and poking at the Israeli's? You leave us alone, we'll leave you alone. However, since you can't seem to make that distinction, then your nuclear program simply isn't going to happen.

Especially when you are supposedly suggesting something that the US already has done: Namely, a third party nuclear fuel repository. You've been offered that and you turned it down flatly. Well now suggesting it means that you're just trying to buy some extra time.

Even your fellow Arab states such as Bahrain thinks you're trying to get a nuclear weapon.