[New York Times] William J. Broad, Mark Mazzetti and David E. Sanger - In closed-door discussions, American spy agencies have stood firm in their conclusion that while Iran may ultimately want a bomb, the country halted work on weapons design in 2003 and probably has not restarted that effort - a judgment first made public in a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate. Yet U.S. spy agencies are delivering more cautious assessments about Iran's clandestine programs than their Western European counterparts. German intelligence officials say the weapons work never stopped, while Israeli intelligence officials believe Iran restarted weapons design work in 2005 on the orders of supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei. Some Israeli and European officials say the Americans are being overly cautious, having been stung by the Iraq intelligence debacle.
2009-09-29 08:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive