سخنگوی وزارت امور خارجه در واکنش به گزارش اطلاعاتی آمریکا و اظهارات مشاور امنیت ملی این کشور گفت: این گزارش به روشنی اذعان دارد که برنامه هسته ای ایران کاملا صلح آمیز است و رفتار ایران و گزارشات آژانس همگی دلالت بر عدم انحراف این برنامه دارد و گزارش های قبلی دولتمردان آمریکایی مبنی بر تصمیم ایران برای ساخت سلاح هسته ای کاملا بی اساس و ساختگی بوده است.
به گزارش خبرگزاری مهر، سخنگوی وزارت امور خارجه در تبیین مهمترین واقعیت های نهفته در این گزارش تصریح کرد: این گزارش ها قرائن متعددی را اثبات می سازد از جمله مهمترین آنها اینکه اظهارات بوش و سایر مقامات آمریکایی که همواره سخن از خطرات جدی برنامه هسته ای ایران را مطرح می کند واهی و غیر قابل اعتماد می باشد.
حسینی با مقایسه گزارشات قبلی و فعلی سازمان های اطلاعاتی آمریکا اظهار داشت: این گزارش که در سال 2005 ایران را مصمم برای تولید سلاح اتمی و در سال 2007 با اطمینان بالایی قضاوت قبلی را رد و نفی می نماید نشانگر مضمون کاملا متناقض گزارش های متوالی سازمان های اطلاعاتی بوده و به خوبی ماهیت غیر واقعی و مغرضانه آنها را تبیین می نماید.
وی ضمن استقبال از گزارش های مثبتی که بر اساس واقع بینی است خاطر نشان کرد: گزارش سازی ها و استمرار فشارهای غیر منصفانه نمی تواند افکار عمومی جهان را نسبت به حقایق و مستندات محکم مندرج در دهها گزارش فنی و قانونی آژانس منحرف ساخته و اعتبار آژانس بین المللی انرژی اتمی را مخدوش سازد.
حسینی گفت: از جمله آثار حقوقی این گزارش آن است که ارجاع موضوع هسته ای ایران به شورای امنیت امری غیر قانونی بوده چرا که بر اساس این گزارش زمانی که موضوع هسته ای ایران در سال 2006 به شورای امنیت ارجاع شد به استناد ارزیابی آژانس های اطلاعاتی آمریکا، جمهوری اسلامی ایران هیچ نوع برنامه هسته ای نظامی نداشته است.
سید محمدعلی حسینی در خصوص پیامهایی که این گزارش در بر دارد اظهار داشت: این گزارش می تواند برای متحدین اروپایی آمریکا پیام های خوبی را به همراه داشته باشد که با نگاهی به سیاستهای غیر واقع بینانه خود، رویکردی منصفانه و قضاوتهای عادلانه و راه حل های عقلانی را برگزینند.
گفتنی است، 16 سازمان اطلاعاتی و جاسوسی آمریکا روز گذشته 12 آذر (3 دسامبر) ، در گزارش 100 صفحه ای خود به تمایل نداشتن کشورمان برای دستیابی به سلاح اتمی تاکید کردند که این گزارش تناقض آشکار با یک گزارش اطلاعاتی دارد که دو سال پیش منتشر شد که مدعی بود "ایران برای توسعه سلاح های هسته ای مصمم است."
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI, Associated Press Writer 1 hour, 34 minutes ago
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's foreign minister on Tuesday welcomed the U.S. decision to "correct" its claim that Tehran has an active nuclear weapons program, state-run radio reported.
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Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was referring to a U.S. intelligence assessment released Monday that reversed earlier claims that Iran had restarted its weapons program in 2005 after suspending it in 2003.
"It's natural that we welcome ... countries that correct their views realistically which in the past had questions and ambiguities about (Iran's nuclear activities)," Mottaki said.
The new U.S. intelligence report Monday concluded that Iran's nuclear weapons development program has been halted since the fall of 2003 because of international pressure.
The finding is part of a National Intelligence Estimate on Iran that also cautions that Tehran continues to enrich uranium and still could develop a bomb between 2010 and 2015 if it decided to do so.
The conclusion that Iran's weapons program was still frozen, through at least mid-2007, represents a sharp turnaround from the previous intelligence assessment in 2005.
Then, U.S. intelligence agencies believed Tehran was determined to develop a nuclear weapons capability and was continuing its weapons development program. The new report concludes that Iran's decisions are rational and pragmatic, and that Tehran is more susceptible to diplomatic and financial pressure than previously thought.
"Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," says the unclassified summary of the secret report.
The findings come at a time of escalating tensions between the United States and Iran, which President Bush has labeled part of an "axis of evil," along with Iraq and North Korea.
At an Oct. 17 news conference, Bush said, "If you're interested in avoiding World War III, it seems like you ought to be interested in preventing them (Iran) from having the knowledge necessary to make a nuclear weapon."
Rand Beers, who resigned from Bush's National Security Council just before the Iraq war, said the report should derail any appetite for war on the administration's part, and should reinvigorate regional diplomacy. "The new NIE throws cold water on the efforts of those urging military confrontation with Iran," he said.
However, Israel's defense minister said Tuesday that Israeli intelligence believes Iran is still trying to develop a nuclear weapon.
"There are differences in the assessments of different organizations in the world about this, and only time will tell who is right," Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Army Radio.
On Monday, senior intelligence officials said they failed to detect Iran's fall 2003 halt in nuclear weapons development in time to reflect it in the 2005 estimate.
One of the officials said Iran is the most challenging country to spy on — harder even than North Korea, a notoriously closed society. "We put a lot more collection assets against this," the official said, "but gaps remain." The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
U.S. National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley, said the risk of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon remains "a serious problem."
"The bottom line is this: For that strategy to succeed, the international community has to turn up the pressure on Iran with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions, and with other financial pressure and Iran has to decide it wants to negotiate a solution," Hadley said.
Bush was briefed on the 100-page document on Nov. 28. National Intelligence Estimates represent the most authoritative written judgments of all 16 U.S. spy agencies. Congress and other executive agencies were briefed Monday, and foreign governments will be briefed beginning Tuesday, the officials said.
The intelligence officials said they do not know all the reasons why Iran halted its weapons program, or what might trigger its resumption. They said they are confident that diplomatic and political pressure played a key role, but said the U.S. invasion of Iraq, Libya's termination of its nuclear program and the implosion of the illegal nuclear smuggling network run by Pakistani scientist A.Q. Khan also might have influenced Tehran.
To develop a nuclear weapon, Iran needs to design and engineer a warhead, obtain enough fissile material, and build a delivery vehicle such as a missile. The intelligence agencies now believe Iran halted warhead engineering four years ago and as of mid-2007 had not restarted it.
But Iran is still enriching uranium for its civilian nuclear reactors that produce electricity. That leaves open the possibility that fissile material could be diverted to covert nuclear sites to produce highly enriched uranium for a warhead.
This national intelligence estimate was originally due in the spring of 2007 but was delayed because the agencies wanted more confidence their findings were accurate, given the inaccuracy of the 2002 intelligence estimate of Iraq's weapons of mass destruction program.
Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller, D-W. Va., said the report showed "a level of independence from political leadership that was lacking in the recent past."
Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell decided last month that key judgments of NIEs should not be declassified and released. The intelligence officials said an exception was made in this case because the last assessment of Iran's nuclear program in 2005 has influenced public debate about U.S. policy toward Iran, and must be updated to reflect the latest findings.
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.
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.
Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from Washington and Elaine Sciolino from Paris.
