Reporting from Washington United Nations nuclear inspectors have concluded that Iran has acquired the technical means to design a nuclear weapon and would require about six months to enrich uranium to the quality needed for a bomb if it decided to do so, according to officials familiar with the evidence.

Evidence of advances in Iran's research is expected to emerge this week in a report by the International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N.'s Vienna-based nuclear watchdog.
 
The IAEA report provides no "smoking gun" proof that Iran's government intends to build a nuclear weapon, said a European diplomat. But the report is likely to add pressure on the Islamic Republic, and bolster those who have called for stiffer sanctions or military strikes in an effort to prevent Iran from becoming a nuclear-armed state.

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