US presidential hopeful says he would bomb Iran nuke sites

The former Pennsylvania senator also came up with an aggressive strategy for preventing a nuclear-armed Iran. He said he would order air strikes if Iran does not open up its facilities,and he declared Iranian nuclear scientists should be treated like an “enemy combatant,” similar to an “Al Qaeda member.”

Though President Barack Obama has pursued sanctions against Iran,Santorum said he has not gone far enough and criticised him for holding back support for the 2009 democracy movement in Iran.

The Obama administration has focused mainly primarily on international diplomacy and economic penalties to try to pressure Iran into abandoning its nuclear programme. Iran contends its efforts are for peaceful purposes.

Iran yesterday said that its scientists have “tested the first nuclear fuel rod produced from uranium ore deposits inside the country.”

“After going through physical checks,it was inserted into the core of the Tehran research reactor in order to study how well it works,” the the website of the Iranian Atomic Energy Organisation said.

The energy organisation did not specify the level of enrichment of the trial fuel rod but Iran’s programme to enrich uranium to the higher level has been at the centre of growing Western concerns about the goals of its nuclear programme.

Western governments have expressed fears that Iran’s real aim is to develop a capability to enrich uranium to the 90 per cent level necessary for an atomic bomb.