Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta said Monday night on CBS News that despite the efforts to disrupt the Iranian nuclear program, the Iranians have reached a point where they can assemble a bomb in a year or potentially less.

CBS News host Scott Pelley: So are you saying that Iran can have a nuclear weapon in 2012?

Panetta: It would probably be about a year before they can do it. Perhaps a little less. But one proviso, Scott, is if they have a hidden facility somewhere in Iran that may be enriching fuel.

Pelley: So that they can develop a weapon even more quickly…

Panetta: On a faster track….

Pelley: Than we believe….

Panetta: That’s correct.

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