Cheney's lies about Iran nukes declared false

Monday, December 3, 2007

from Institute for Public Accuracy
915 National Press Building, Washington, D.C. 20045
(202) 347-0020 * http://www.accuracy.org * ipa@accuracy.org

U.S. Report Stating Iran Halted Nuke Program Finally Released

The New York Times lead headline this afternoon on its website was
"U.S. Says Iran Ended Atomic Arms Work:
Report Contradicts Prior Intelligence Assessment."

The report in question is the National Intelligence Estimate, "Iran:
Nuclear Intentions and Capablities," which is now available at:
REESE ERLICH, rerlich@pacbell.net,
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/opinion/oped/bal-op.iran28nov28,0,5197104.story

Foreign correspondent and author of the new book The Iran Agenda:
The Real Story of U.S. Policy and the Middle East Crisis, Erlich is
available for a limited number of interviews. He said today: "The NIE
released today has been suppressed by the Bush Administration since
February. It clearly indicates that the White House, and Vice President
Cheney in particular, have been lying about the nuclear threat from Iran
as part of a conscious effort to whip up public support for bombing
Iran. But the 'realist' wing of the White House seems to be prevailing
for the moment. The official press release emphasizes negotiations, not
bombing.
"Yet the U.S. continues its covert war against Iran, using Kurdish
and other minority group organizations to blow up buildings, kill
soldiers and civilians. All factions in the White House continue to seek
the overthrow of the Iranian government, in complete violation of
international law and the 1981 Algiers Accords signed by the U.S. and
Iran, which prohibit political or military interference in the internal
affairs of Iran."

MUHAMMAD SAHIMI, moe@usc.edu
Sahimi is professor of chemical engineering at the University of
Southern California. His articles on U.S./Iranian relations include "The
follies of Bush's Iran policy" -- which he co-wrote with Nobel Peace
Prize winner Shirin Ebadi. Also: "Norman Podhoretz's War Prayer,"
.
Sahimi said today: "After nearly two decades of accusing Iran of
having a secret nuclear weapon program, the United States is finally
acknowledging that Iran does not have such a program. This is completely
in line with what the Iranian government has been saying all along, that
its nuclear facilities that have been declared to the International
Atomic Energy Agency are the only facilities that it has, and because
they are safeguarded and monitored by the IAEA, they cannot be used in
illicit weapon activities. The time has come for direct negotiations
between Iran and the United States to resolve the outstanding issues
between the two nations, which will help the peace and stability in the
Middle East."

CARAH ONG, cong@armscontrolcenter.org, http://irannuclearwatch.blogspot.com
Ong is Iran Policy Analyst at the Center for Arms Control and
Nonproliferation and is writing regularly on Iran's nuclear program; her
most recent piece is "Long-Awaited National Intelligence Estimate on
Iran Finally Released." Ong said today: "This NIE, which represents the
consensus view of all 16 American intelligence agencies, says that Iran
halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains
on hold. This new assessment contradicts the 2005 NIE, which assessed
with 'high confidence' that Iran was determined to have a nuclear weapon
and was working inexorably towards this end."

For more information, contact at the Institute for Public Accuracy:
Sam Husseini, (202) 347-0020; or David Zupan, (541) 484-9167.