CIA Has No Evidence On Iran
CIA Has No Evidence
On Iran
The US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) has found no strong evidence that Iran is developing a nuclear weapon, according to a US magazine report, details of which were released Sunday.
A top-secret CIA analysis contradicted the belief of President George W Bush's administration that Tehran is working on a nuclear bomb, investigative journalist Seymour Hersh wrote in an article for the November 27 edition of the New Yorker magazine.
"The CIA found no conclusive evidence, as yet, of a secret Iranian nuclear weapons program running parallel to the civilian operations that Iran has declared to the International Atomic Energy Agency," Hersh wrote.
The analysis was carried out using satellite photos, and the testing of water and smoke from suspected sites for traces of radioactivity. No significant amount was detected.
A high-ranking security source confirmed the existence of the report and said that the Bush administration, particularly Vice President Dick Cheney and his aides, rejected the findings, believing instead that the Iranian nuclear weapons program is merely well hidden.
The US and other Western nations believe that the Iranian uranium enrichment program is aimed at building nuclear weapons. However, Tehran has said the program has purely peaceful and civilian goals.
