Nuclear Weapons

The nation's top military officer said Sunday that Iran had enough nuclear material to make a bomb, but Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Tehran was not close to building such a weapon. Navy Adm. Michael G. Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told CNN's "State of the Union" program that he believed Iran had enough fissile material for a nuclear weapon. "We think they do, quite frankly," said Mullen, who reiterated the dangers of a nuclear-armed Iran.

Iran has significantly boosted its supply and output of reactor-grade nuclear material, according to a quarterly report issued Friday by the United Nations' arms control division. Meanwhile, in Syria, international inspectors reported finding unexplained particles of modified uranium at a lab in Damascus, far from an alleged nuclear site.

In singling out President Obama for its peace prize, the Nobel committee said he had created a new climate in international politics and brought back diplomacy and negotiation as the preferred tools of international relations. Some hallmarks of his short time in the White House: Russia Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agree on a framework to reduce their nations' nuclear arsenals and on steps to fight terrorism and cooperate on the war in Afghanistan. Preparing for the Moscow trip, Obama said his overarching agenda was to "reset" U.S.-Russia relations.

President Obama is working against time to untangle 30 years of enmity and prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb, but even his own advisors know the chance of success is slim. So they also have been working on Plan B: What do we do if Iran gets the bomb? Today, the Obama administration is debating its Iran policy behind closed doors.

Israel has warned for years that it might carry out military action to prevent Iran from building an atomic bomb. But as the United States and other powers prepare to confront Iran in talks this week, the message from Jerusalem is more restrained. Israeli leaders say they are willing to wait as President Obama plays out his strategy of negotiating with Iran while threatening stronger sanctions if talks fail. They say last week's disclosure of a previously secret nuclear enrichment plant under construction in Iran strengthened the case for harsh international measures.

North Korea's previous nuclear test and missile launches had a ring of foot-stamping about them, certainly a modest security threat, but also a demand that Washington pay the nation some attention. This time, its motives seem more complex, the international bravado blended with the mysteries of the secretive regime's internal politics.

After firing the two top Air Force leaders last year for a series of embarrassing nuclear weapons mishaps, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates was told Thursday that the same problems of inexperience, poor training and splintered authority over nuclear arms affect the entire Pentagon, including its top leadership. A task force headed by former Defense Secretary James R.

The Obama administration has decided to retain the official who led the Bush administration's effort to squeeze Iran with economic sanctions, providing an important clue on how it intends to approach the Islamic Republic. Stuart Levey, Treasury Department undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence, will remain in his post, officials said. Levey has overseen an effort to dissuade international banks from dealing with Iranian government agencies and firms that U.S.

The South Korean intelligence reports are ominous: North Korea appears to be preparing to test-launch a ballistic missile with sufficient range to strike Alaska and possibly the West Coast. A train transporting a large cylindrical object was recently spotted by a U.S. surveillance satellite chugging toward a new launchpad site west of Pyongyang, the capital, a South Korean government source recently told news outlets here.

Iran has enough nuclear fuel to build a bomb if it decides to take the drastic steps of violating its international treaty obligations, kicking out inspectors and further refining its supply, U.N. officials and arms control experts said Thursday.