SANTIAGO, Chile -- U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell says there is evidence Iran is developing a missile system to deliver nuclear warheads, the Washington Post reports.
"I have seen some information that would suggest that they have been actively working on delivery systems ... You don't have a weapon until you put it in something that can deliver a weapon," Powell told reporters traveling with him to Chile for an Asia-Pacific economic summit.
Iran has long been known to have a missile program, while denying it was seeking a nuclear bomb.
"There is no doubt in my mind ... they have been interested in a nuclear weapon that has utility, meaning that it is something they would be able to deliver, not just something that sits there," Powell said.
Joseph Cirincione, director of the Non-Proliferation Project at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, said Powell's remarks indicate Iran was trying to master the difficult technology of reducing the size of a nuclear warhead to fit on a ballistic missile.
