Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad
declared victory on Wednesday after a US intelligence report contradicted the Bush administration's charge that Iran was actively seeking nuclear weapons.
| Report |
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| Iran welcomes US report, Olmert says it won't hinder anti-nuke efforts / Roni Sofer and Reuters |
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'Condition of Iran's peaceful nuclear activities is becoming clear to the world,' FM Mottaki says in response to US Intelligence report contradicting assertions that Tehran was intent on building atomic bomb. Ehud Olmert: American stance will still focus on preventing Iran from attaining nuclear capability |
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"Today, the Iranian nation is victorious but you (the United States) are empty-handed," The president said in a televised speech to a rally in the western Iranian city of Ilam.
The US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) on Monday surprised US friends and foes by saying Iran
halted an atomic weapons program in 2003, contradicting US President George W. Bush's charge that Tehran had an active bomb program.
Tehran has already welcomed the report although it insists its nuclear program has never had any military goals.
"This report ... is announcing a victory for the Iranian nation in the nuclear issue against all international powers," The president said.
The NIE report, however, said Iran was continuing to develop the technical means that could be applied to producing weapons. In response to the report, Bush said Iran remained a danger if it mastered the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon.
The United States said it would continue pushing for a third UN sanctions resolution. Two sets of UN sanctions have been imposed so far because Iran has refused to stop uranium enrichment, a process that has both military and civilian uses.
China, which has a UN Security Council veto and agreed only reluctantly to earlier sanctions, said "things have changed" with the NIE report. France and Britain, two other permanent council members, said pressure should be kept up.
"If you want to start a new political game, the united Iranian nation will resist you and will not retreat one step from its program," the president said. "We will continue our nuclear program and we will not give it up."
Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready for talks that were "honest and cooperative" on the nuclear program, repeating Iran's long-standing call for dialogue to end the row.
The United States has said Iran must first halt uranium enrichment before any formal talks can start. Tehran has refused to stop, saying such activities are a national right that it will never give up.
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