Ahmadinejad said to be pushing for open nuke work

Iran's president wants to shed the nation's secrecy and forge ahead openly with developing nuclear weapons, but is opposed by the clerical leadership, which is worried about international reaction to such a move, an intelligence assessment hedged Friday.

That report, from a nation with traditionally reliable intelligence from the region, cannot be confirmed and contrasts with assessments by other countries that view Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as relatively moderate on the nuclear issue compared to the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. (AP)