euro|topics - American intelligence report exonerates Iran

05/07/2009

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Main focus of Wednesday, December 5, 2007

American intelligence report exonerates Iran

US intelligence agencies have presented a report according to which Iran discontinued its nuclear weapons programme in 2003. Will these revelations prompt Western nations to change their policy on Iran? Does this make the arguments in favour of constructing a missile defence shield in Eastern Europe redundant?

Frankfurter Rundschau - Germany

Karl Grobe speculates on whether George Bush and Dick Cheney were informed about the intelligence report before its publication: "If they did know, then Bush's bellicose talk in October about the danger of a third world war was at the very least reckless. This would mean the plans to install missile defence bases in Poland and the Czech Republic as quickly as possible were ideologically motivated rather than rationally justifiable - whereby the ideological cocktail had two ingredients besides the professed explanation: the intention of showing the Russians who's boss once and for all, and the desire to split Europe up into the evil old states and the good new ones. Perhaps the references to Teheran were a means to this end. Regardless of whether it was the result of ignorance - which boils down to recklessness - or superior knowledge, the Bush Administration owes some explanations to its European allies - but not along the lines of those given by Bush on Tuesday that his administration is always right." (05/12/2007)

Mladá fronta DNES - Czech Republic

Czech government officials have announced that the negotiations with the US for the installation of a radar station will continue despite the publication of the American intelligence report. Jan Rybář comments: "The Czechs and the Americans will have to reckon with a merciless campaign by the opponents of the radar station, whom the US has now provided with solid arguments in their favour. And Vladimir Putin, who has described the radar as anti-Russian rather than anti-Iranian, must see this as an early Christmas gift. ... But no doubt there are still good arguments for the construction of the radar station. This is not just about protection from Iran, but also from any country that could get hold of dangerous weapons. It doesn't have to be nuclear weapons; it could be biological or conventional weapons that Iran brings into play. Who knows what the situation will be five or ten years from now?" (05/12/2007)

Die Presse - Austria

Christian Ultsch warns that it would be foolish to slacken controls on Iran. "The intelligence report plays right into Iran's hands. Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki immediately declared that now the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear programme should be clear to the whole world. Naturally this is just propaganda, for Mottaki made no mention of an important part of the analysis: namely that US intelligence agencies are 'almost certain' that Iran was working on building a nuclear bomb before autumn 2003. It only stopped the programme as a result of international pressure, but it could resume at any time. The Iranians possess the technical know-how - and they enrich uranium (which they are permitted to do), albeit not in such quantities to justify fears of an apocalypse. ... If the pressure eases now and a closely-knit network of inspectors is not established, Iran will start to build the bomb again." (05/12/2007)

» To the complete press review of Wednesday, December 5, 2007

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