(Agencies)
Updated: 2007-12-04 21:16

"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 US President Bush has labeled part of an "axis of evil."

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."

Other Iranian officials also praised the new intelligence report.

"This confession from within the US administration's most sensitive ranks is proof ... that (Iran's) nuclear program is peaceful," top lawmaker Alaeddin Boroujerdi was quoted as saying by the official news agency IRNA.

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.

   1 2 3   

   1 2 3