Iran is amassing materials such as tungsten copper and specialized aluminum and titanium sheets that are key to production of missiles, including long-range weapons, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The report comes as Iran continues to flout world opinion and United Nations resolutions by producing nuclear materials that, with reprocessing, can be used to build nuclear weapons.

Some leaders in the outgoing Bush administration fear Iran is just two to three years from developing nuclear weapons, and the technology to build intercontinental ballistic missiles as well, weapons that could strike Europe or the United States. Iran also has fired multiple missiles in a salvo test, fired a missile from a submerged submarine, and announced plans for a space program.

That is why Bush proposed that the United States construct the European Missile Defense (EMD) system in the Czech Republic (radar) and Poland (interceptors in ground silos). The Boeing Co. [BA] would lead the EMD program, basing it on the Boeing Ground-based Midcourse Defense missile shield now installed in Alaska and California. However, first some hurdles must be surmounted, including restrictions imposed by Congress.

But as Barack Obama moves into the White House, the new president has nominated key defense officials who say the Department of Defense should review whether the EMD should be built, as part of the Quadrennial Defense Review that will be undertaken later this year.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has said that Israel should be wiped from the map, and that it soon shall cease to exist. He also has sprayed hatred toward the United States.

Financing for the Iranian materials purchases must flow through financial institutions, including those in major industrialized countries, and U.S. authorities are probing to see whether legal restrictions were violated, according to the report.