A new assessment by American intelligence agencies concludes that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program in 2003 and that the program remains on hold, contradicting an assessment two years ago that Tehran was working inexorably toward building a bomb.[...]The assessment, a National Intelligence Estimate that represents the consensus view of all 16 American spy agencies, states that Tehran's ultimate intentions about gaining a nuclear weapon remain unclear, but that Iran's “decisions are guided by a cost-benefit approach rather than a rush to a weapon irrespective of the political, economic and military costs.
Brad Plumer directs us to this story by Gareth Porter, detailing how Vice-President Cheney's office held up the release of the NIE for over a year because its conclusions conflicted with Cheney's goal of ginning up a war with Iran. --Matthew Duss
