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IRAN NOT AN IMMEDIATE NUCLEAR THREAT, INTEL SHOWS
ARMENPRESS
MARCH 23, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS: The United States, European allies
and even Israel generally agree on three things about Iran"s nuclear
program: Tehran does not have a bomb, has not decided to build one,
and is probably years away from having a deliverable nuclear warhead.
Those conclusions, drawn from extensive interviews with current and
former U.S. and European officials with access to intelligence on
Iran, contrast starkly with the heated debate surrounding a possible
Israeli strike on Tehran"s nuclear facilities, Armenpress reports
citing Reuters.
"They"re keeping the soup warm but they are not cooking it," a U.S.
administration official said.
Reuters has learned that in late 2006 or early 2007, U.S. intelligence
intercepted telephone and email communications in which Mohsen
Fakhrizadeh, a leading figure in Iran"s nuclear program, and other
scientists complained that the weaponization program had been stopped.
That led to a bombshell conclusion in a controversial 2007 National
Intelligence Estimate: American spy agencies had "high confidence"
that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003.
Current and former U.S. officials say they are confident that Iran has
no secret uranium-enrichment site outside the purview of U.N. nuclear
inspections.
They also have confidence that any Iranian move toward building
a functional nuclear weapon would be detected long before a bomb
was made.
These intelligence findings are what underpin President Barack Obama"s
argument that there is still time to see whether economic sanctions
will compel Iran"s leaders to halt any program.
The Obama administration, relying on a top-priority intelligence
collection program and after countless hours of debate, has concluded
that Iranian leaders have not decided whether to actively construct
a nuclear weapon, current and former officials said.
ARMENPRESS
MARCH 23, 2012
YEREVAN
YEREVAN, MARCH 23, ARMENPRESS: The United States, European allies
and even Israel generally agree on three things about Iran"s nuclear
program: Tehran does not have a bomb, has not decided to build one,
and is probably years away from having a deliverable nuclear warhead.
Those conclusions, drawn from extensive interviews with current and
former U.S. and European officials with access to intelligence on
Iran, contrast starkly with the heated debate surrounding a possible
Israeli strike on Tehran"s nuclear facilities, Armenpress reports
citing Reuters.
"They"re keeping the soup warm but they are not cooking it," a U.S.
administration official said.
Reuters has learned that in late 2006 or early 2007, U.S. intelligence
intercepted telephone and email communications in which Mohsen
Fakhrizadeh, a leading figure in Iran"s nuclear program, and other
scientists complained that the weaponization program had been stopped.
That led to a bombshell conclusion in a controversial 2007 National
Intelligence Estimate: American spy agencies had "high confidence"
that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in the fall of 2003.
Current and former U.S. officials say they are confident that Iran has
no secret uranium-enrichment site outside the purview of U.N. nuclear
inspections.
They also have confidence that any Iranian move toward building
a functional nuclear weapon would be detected long before a bomb
was made.
These intelligence findings are what underpin President Barack Obama"s
argument that there is still time to see whether economic sanctions
will compel Iran"s leaders to halt any program.
The Obama administration, relying on a top-priority intelligence
collection program and after countless hours of debate, has concluded
that Iranian leaders have not decided whether to actively construct
a nuclear weapon, current and former officials said.