White House hails findings of new NIE on Iran nukes

The White House Monday touted the results of a National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) that found that Iran has stopped its nuclear weapons program.

{mosads}The NIE said that U.S. intelligence services, with a high degree of confidence, have determined that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003. Prior to that time, according to the document, Iran had sought to build a nuclear weapon.

“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,” the NIE said. “Our assessment that the program probably was halted primarily in response to international pressure suggests Iran may be more vulnerable to influence on the issue than we judged previously.”

National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley said the NIE “confirms that we were right to be worried about Iran seeking to develop nuclear weapons.”

Hadley added that the intelligence estimate “offers grounds for hope that the problem can be solved diplomatically — without the use of force — as the administration has been trying to do.”

The official interpreted the findings in the NIE, portions of which were declassified Monday, as a validation of Bush’s Iran policy. The rhetoric between the U.S. and Iran has increased recently but the White House has maintained that is seeks diplomatic solutions between the two countries.

Hadley called on the international community to “turn up the pressure on Iran — with diplomatic isolation, United Nations sanctions, and with other financial pressure …”

Donald Kerr, the principal deputy director of national intelligence, said the decision to make some of the findings public was made “when it was determined that doing so was in the interest of our nation’s security.”

“The intelligence community is on the record publicly with numerous statements based on our 2005 assessment on Iran,” Kerr added. “Since our understanding of Iran’s capabilities has changed, we felt it was important to release this information to ensure that an accurate presentation is available.”