VIENNA (Reuters) – A diplomatic storm over U.S. accusations that Iran plotted to kill the Saudi ambassador in Washington may throttle any slim chance of diplomacy resolving the long-running dispute over Tehran’s nuclear program.

“I wouldn’t say that it is dead forever,” said Gala Riani, senior Middle East analyst at London-based IHS Global Insight. “But it is difficult to see it being restarted any time soon.”

VIENNA (Reuters) – The U.N. atomic watchdog is expected to spell out in more detail soon the reasons for its growing concern that Iran may be working covertly to develop a nuclear missile, diplomats say.

Such a move by the International Atomic Energy Agency, possibly in a new quarterly report on Iran due early next month, could raise pressure on Tehran and offer more arguments for Western powers to tighten sanctions on the major oil producer.

(The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own)

By Ian Campbell

LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) – The Bank of England has launched its lifeboat early. Its calculation is that the euro storm, bad now, may get a lot worse, with worrying implications for UK banks, exports and growth. But whether the monetary lifeboat can keep the UK economy from sinking will remain in doubt. If the purchase of 75 billion pounds of government bonds isn’t enough, there may well be more — but also calls for bolder fiscal policy.

VIENNA (Reuters) – Iran is unlikely to be able to make atomic bombs before 2013, a former senior official of the U.N. nuclear watchdog said on Wednesday, dismissing suggestions it could happen in months if Tehran decided to pursue such mass-destruction weaponry.

Olli Heinonen, head of U.N. safeguards inspections worldwide until last year, said he believed Iran would need a couple of years to develop a capability to manufacture nuclear-armed missiles, based on what is now known about its activities.

VIENNA (Reuters) – Either Iran could build a nuclear bomb in a matter of months or it is unlikely to get such a weapon any time soon — depending on which Western expert you talk to.

The differing estimates show the difficulty in trying to assess how long it could take Iran to convert its growing uranium stockpile into weapons-grade material and how advanced it may be in other areas vital for any bomb bid.

VIENNA (Reuters) – Either Iran could build a nuclear bomb in a matter of months or it is unlikely to get such a weapon any time soon — depending on which Western expert you talk to.

The differing estimates show the difficulty in trying to assess how long it could take Iran to convert its growing uranium stockpile into weapons-grade material and how advanced it may be in other areas vital for any bomb bid.

VIENNA (Reuters) – The U.N. atomic agency urged states on Monday to provide extra funding to strengthen global nuclear safety in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima accident — a request some may balk at amid growing economic worries.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano, also announced the U.N. body would send a team of experts to Japan next month to help sanitise areas contaminated as a result of the nuclear accident.

VIENNA (Reuters) – Israel welcomed as a “positive” move a decision by Arab states not to target the Jewish state with a resolution over its assumed nuclear arsenal at a global meeting of the U.N. atomic agency on Friday.

Arab delegations described this as a “goodwill” gesture ahead of talks later this year on efforts to free the world of nuclear weapons and an Egyptian-proposed conference in 2012 on creating a zone without such arms in the Middle East.

VIENNA, Sept 22 (Reuters) – The U.N. nuclear agency endorsed
an action plan on Thursday to help strengthen global nuclear
safety in the wake of Japan’s Fukushima accident six months ago,
despite criticism from some countries that it does not go far
enough.

The International Atomic Energy Agency’s 151 member states,
at their annual general conference in Vienna, approved by
consensus the plan prepared by the office of IAEA Director
General Yukiya Amano.

VIENNA (Reuters) – Environmental group Greenpeace calls it a “dying and dangerous” industry and Europe’s biggest engineering conglomerate, Siemens, is exiting the sector altogether.

Japan’s Fukushima nuclear accident six months ago sparked doubts about the future of nuclear power across the globe and especially in Europe, highlighted by Germany’s decision to quit the energy source and Italy’s referendum to ban it for decades.