The U.S. Defense Department's intelligence chief said that although Iran has been developing the means to build nuclear weapons, the Middle Eastern nation has not yet made a final decision to do so, Voice of America reported this week.
The conclusion -- originally reached in a comprehensive 2007 intelligence assessment of Iran's nuclear program -- remains valid despite uncertainties about the goals and stability of the nation's government, U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency Chief Lt. Gen. Ronald Burgess said.
"The bottom line assessments of the [National Intelligence Estimate] still hold true," Burgess said. "We have not seen indication that the government has made the decision to move ahead with the program. But the fact still remains that we don't know what we don't know."
The report has proven controversial in the United States and has been dismissed by other nations. Advisers to President Barack Obama have also been said to question the assessment, according to Voice of America.
Iran has insisted its atomic ambitions are strictly peaceful, but that assertion has been received skeptically by the United States and other Western powers. Washington and its allies have expressed particular concern about Iran's uranium enrichment program, which can produce nuclear power plant fuel as well as material suitable for use in weapons.
"The fact is, Iran is not dealing straight up. So they can say whatever they would like. I'm an intelligence profe... >>>
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