Press

"The latest judgments included in the Iran National Intelligence Estimate represent good news for the state of our Intelligence Community and for the country.  

 

"The key judgments show that the Intelligence Community has learned its lessons from the Iraq debacle.  It has issued judgments that break sharply with its own previous assessments, and they reflect a real difference from the views espoused by top Administration officials.   

 

"This demonstrates a new willingness to question assumptions internally, and a level of independence from political leadership that was lacking in the recent past. 

 

"This NIE is also strong evidence that diplomacy, when given a chance, can have an effect even with seemingly intractable regimes.

 

"We must remain committed to ensuring that Iran does not resume its nuclear efforts, as an Iran armed with a nuclear weapon would be a serious threat to America and its allies.”

 

 

The Intelligence Community’s assessment on Iran’s nuclear intentions was prepared at the urging of Congress and has been underway for more than a year.  During that time, the Senate Intelligence Committee has been conducting a study of the Intelligence Community’s work regarding the collection and analysis of information on Iran.  We know from that study that the Intelligence Community has significantly improved the quality of its work since the Iraq NIE in 2002.

 

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