British Official Lashes U.S. Intel Report on Iran

A high-level British diplomat yesterday leveled harsh criticism at a U.S. intelligence assessment concluding with “high confidence” that Iran halted nuclear weapons development in 2003, the London Independent reported (see GSN, March 5).

“Many of us were surprised by how emphatic the writers of it were.  That all the activities stopped in 2003 and had not resumed,” the diplomat said in reference to the 2007 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran, which represented the consensus of the 16 U.S. intelligence agencies.

“I haven’t seen any intelligence that gives me even medium confidence that these programs haven’t resumed.  So we just don’t know,” he told reporters, noting that Iran has refused to give the International Atomic Energy Agency access to all of its nuclear sites and officials.

When the U.S. report was released in December, it “had an impact on the international debate, but I don’t think it ever took the military option off the table,” the diplomat said, adding that the Iranians “continue to pursue a dangerous path, and we shouldn’t underestimate the risk of miscalculation.”

“Just because we got it wrong on Iraq, it doesn’t mean we’re getting it wrong on Iran,” he said, referring to flawed intelligence indicating that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction prior to the 2003 invasion.

The diplomat emphasized that the United Kingdom intends to “pursue a diplomatic solution to this crisis.  We remain absolutely committed to that” (Anne Penketh, London Independent, March 6).

Meanwhile, Israeli lawmaker and former intelligence chief Danny Yatom has been traveling across Europe and Asia to urge government officials not to adopt a “wait-and-see” strategy on Iran’s suspected nuclear weapons ambitions, the Financial Times reported yesterday.

Countries must move quickly to stop Iran from building a nuclear weapon, Yatom told the Times, noting Israeli projections that Iran could complete a bomb in one year.  Tehran has maintained its nuclear program is strictly for civilian energy production (Blitz/Barber, Financial Times, March 5).

Tehran will not open new talks over its nuclear program following the enactment of new U.N. Security Council sanctions against Iran earlier this week, Iranian Foreign Minster Manouchehr Mottaki told Agence France-Presse yesterday.

“Negotiations and contradictory actions afterwards are not appropriate.  Therefore we believe that for any request for negotiations, first the objectives should be set up,” Mottaki said.

Delegates representing Western nations at the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-nation governing board meeting called for greater nuclear transparency from Iran to refute international suspicions that its nuclear activities are geared toward weapons development.

“They have to come back and respond in a serious way to these issues,” Norwegian envoy Ole Lundby told journalists.

“If they don’t … we may end up in a worse situation,” Lundby said.  “Everyone has spent a lot of time and hope trying to put the past out of the way.  If we don’t do that, then we have serious problem.  We’ll reach a dead end” (Agence France-Presse/Spacewar.com, March 5).

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