Iran’s Manhattan Project is rushing toward its inevitable conclusion, and Israel is their first target.

But if the mullahs succeed, Israel won’t be the last target, and time is running out.

Farkash sets deadline for strike on Iran.

After March Israel must be prepared to use means other than diplomacy to halt Iran’s nuclear weapons program, warned the head of the military intelligence Wednesday.

Military Intelligence Chief Aharon Zeevi Farkash would not detail other options, but sources on the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, which Farkash was addressing, said it was clear that Israel would have to consider taking military action against Iran.

“In my years here, seeing the data I have seen, I feel it is clear that Iran has passed the point of no return,” said committee chairman Yuval Steinitz (Likud). “It is accurate to say that unless Iran encounters a major interference, it will have a functioning nuclear arsenal within one or two years.”

Iran has produced 45 tons of UF- 6 gas that is used in the centrifuge process for producing enriched uranium for nuclear weapons, said Steinitz.

“If by the end of March 2006 the international community will have failed to halt Iran’s nuclear weapons program, diplomatic efforts will be pointless,” said Farkash. “Iran has the upper hand in negotiations with the international community.”

UPDATE at 12/1/05 10:53:15 pm:

TigerHawk notes that the story linked above has been significantly rewritten since I first noticed it yesterday.