Bush Says Iran Still a Danger Despite Report on Weapons
WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 — President Bush said today that a new intelligence finding that Iran halted its nuclear weapons work in 2003 had not altered his sense that Iran remained a danger.
President Bush at a press conference at the White House today.
The world needed to view the report as “a warning signal,” not grounds for reassurance, he said, and the United States would not renounce the option of a military response.
“I have said Iran is dangerous,” Bush said a day after the release of the National Intelligence Estimate, representing the consensus of all 16 American spy agencies, “and the N.I.E. doesn’t do anything to change my opinion about the danger Iran poses to the world — quite the contrary.”
The report was welcomed by Iran today, which said it confirmed Tehran’s frequent protestations that its nuclear program has a purely civilian aim.
But it left some United States allies feeling uncertain about the way ahead. Key partners like France and Britain, in line with the administration response, said the report underscored that past concerns about Iran were well-founded.
But the assessment clearly complicated efforts to impose new sanctions on Iran at the United Nations Security Council, offering cover to Russia and China, two members most skeptical of sanctions.
Mr. Bush said that earlier in the day he had spoken at some length to President Vladimir Putin of Russia about Iran but declined to provide details.
“I think it is very important for the international community to recognize the fact that if Iran were to develop the knowledge that they could transfer to a clandestine program, it would create a danger for the world,” he said.
Reporters pressed the president to explain why as recently as October, he was saying that a nuclear-armed Iran could pose a risk of a “World War III.” But Bush said he had learned of the new intelligence findings on Iran, which have been in the works for months, only last week. When a reporter asked whether anyone in the intelligence community had urged him to step back from his tough warnings about Iran, he said, “No.”
Mr. Bush also denied that the United States’ credibility had suffered in light of the N.I.E. report, arguing instead that it reflected a more rigorous approach to intelligence.
“I want to compliment the intelligence community for their good work,” he said. “Right after the failure of intelligence in Iraq, we reformed the intelligence community.”
He said the new assessment was one result of those changes, adding, “The American people should have confidence that the reforms are working.”
The president insisted that the U.S. approach to Iran of “carrots and sticks,” he said had been vindicated by the fact that Iran had halted its weapons program.
“This is heartening news,” he said. “To me it’s a way for us to rally our partners.”
When another reporter offered the apologetic observation that the president looked “dispirited.” Mr. Bush rejected that with a laugh, accusing the journalist of practicing “Psychology 101.”
In Tehran, Iran welcomed what it said was the United States decision to “correct” its claim of an active Iranian nuclear weapons program, The Associated Press reported.
Manouchehr Mottaki, the foreign minister, said it was natural that Tehran would welcome “countries that correct their views realistically, which in the past had questions and ambiguities” about Iranian nuclear activities.
Germany, one of the three West European governments involved in diplomacy with Iran, seemed to cast the American assessment in the most positive light. The finding, said a spokesman for the foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, demonstrated that the dual-track approach “to give incentives on the one hand and impose punitive measures at the Security Council was the right approach.”
In London, a spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown said that Britain still saw a risk of Iran acquiring nuclear weapons, adding, “in overall terms the government believes that the report confirms we were right to be worried about Iran seeking to develop nuclear weapons.”
France said that its position in favor of tighter sanctions had not changed, Reuters reported from Paris. “Our position remains unchanged,” Pascale Andreani, a Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said. “It appears that Iran is not respecting its international obligations. We must keep up the pressure on Iran.”
The Israeli prime minister, Ehud Olmert, said that the report only strengthened the need for the international community to tighten sanctions so that Iran will not be able to produce nuclear weapons, The Jerusalem Post reported.
Mr. Olmert said that the N.I.E. assessment was brought up during his meetings with Washington officials following the Middle East Peace conference in Annapolis, Md., last week.
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