Iranian officials say that specialists at the Isfahan facility are two to three months away from producing a gas that is the first step toward enriching uranium

Iranian officials say that specialists at the Isfahan facility are two to three months away from producing a gas that is the first step toward enriching uranium, a key to Iran's ambitious plans for comprehensive nuclear power. The Bush administration has expressed fear that there is a more sinister purpose to this sprawling facility four hours south of Tehran, and to others linked to it around Iran: a secret plan to develop nuclear weapons. As the world focuses on Iraq and North Korea, less attention has been paid to Iran, which Washington also has listed on its "axis of evil" for allegedly seeking weapons of mass destruction. After Tehran announced last month that it was mining uranium and building facilities to process the ore into fuel for nuclear power plants, concerns have escalated about possible Iranian nuclear ambitions. President Mohammad Khatami has said that his country "does not need weapons of mass destruction." Nuclear analysts, meanwhile, have said that Iran will soon have independent access to fissile material that could be indeed be used in nuclear arms. Further stoking suspicions was the news that a uranium conversion facility under construction in the city of Natanz, about an hour north of Isafahan, has a pilot gas centrifuge plant. Nuclear analysts, however, say they are mystified as to why Iran needs so much enriched uranium. For now, Iran has only one potential nuclear reactor, which is being built by Russia. Yet Iran's nuclear officials say that their only supplier of nuclear fuel is Russia -- and they want to be more self-reliant in the future.