WASHINGTON/TEHRAN, 5 December 2007 — US President George W. Bush said yesterday that Iran remains a danger and refused to rule out a military attack, despite a US intelligence report saying Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003.
Earlier, Iran welcomed the US intelligence report that concluded it halted a drive for atomic weapons in 2003, saying the study undermined accusations by Bush against Tehran. “The best diplomacy, effective diplomacy, is one in which all options are on the table,” Bush said one day after the new intelligence assessment which has reopened the international controversy over Iran’s disputed program.
Iran said the US report had vindicated its stance, while UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed El-Baradei said the document could help defuse tensions though he added that Iran must step up cooperation with his agency. Bush, however, was adamant. “Iran was dangerous, Iran is dangerous and Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon,” he told a White House press conference.
The president called on US allies to step up pressure on Iran. “The best way to ensure that the world is peaceful in the future is for the international community to continue to work together to say to the Iranians we are going to isolate you.”
The National Intelligence Estimate said that US allegations about Iran’s atomic goals had been exaggerated for at least two years, although it could have the capability to make a nuclear weapon by 2015.
“This report proves Bush’s statements — which always speak of the serious threat of Iran’s nuclear program — are unreliable and fictitious,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini.
Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki told state radio: “We welcome it when any country that had questions about Iran’s nuclear case in the past — regardless of its motives — realistically corrects its view.”
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) head Baradei, whose inspectors have been investigating Iran’s nuclear drive for four years, called for immediate negotiations between Iran and its Western critics. “This new assessment by the US should help to defuse the current crisis,” he said in a statement. “At the same time, it should prompt Iran to work actively with the IAEA.”
Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States had been discussing US-led calls for a third UN Security Council sanctions resolution. Germany and Britain both said the report had vindicated Europe’s approach of embarking on negotiations offering carrot and stick incentives to Iran. France said world powers should continue preparing a new UN resolution. “The report confirms we were right to be worried about Iran seeking to develop nuclear weapons,” said the spokesman of British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
Iran’s arch-foe Israel gave the report a far more frosty reception, with Defense Minister Ehud Barak telling army radio that “Iran is probably continuing its program of fabricating a nuclear bomb.”
Russia made no immediate comment on the report but President Vladimir Putin said during talks with Iran’s chief nuclear negotiator Saeed Jalili that Iran’s nuclear program should be “transparent.”
