Iran welcomes US Intelligence nuclear report

So it looks like the Iranian "Axis of Evil" regime was actually telling the truth about its peaceful nuclear program while the Bushies were fudging, huh?

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2007-12/05/content_7200403.htm

Iran welcomes U.S. intelligence nuclear report, Israel calls for tighter sanctions

TEHRAN, Dec. 4 (Xinhua) -- Iranian officials on Tuesday welcomed a new U.S. intelligence report that concluded the Islamic Republic is not actively building a nuclear weapon, while Israel said the report justified the need for tighter international sanctions on Tehran.

"We naturally welcome those countries that had questions about Iran's nuclear case in the past and now correct their views realistically," Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki was quoted as saying by the state radio.

"The whole world is becoming to know that Iran's nuclear activities are peaceful," he added.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad-Ali Hosseini, in a statement faxed to the media on Tuesday, also welcomed the U.S. intelligence report as "positive and factual."

The report reflected the elaboration of 16 U.S. intelligent services and confirmed that Iran's nuclear program is peaceful and no violation is detected, Hosseini said.

Therefore, the previous claims of U.S. officials turned out to be totally baseless, Hosseini said, adding that sending Iran's case to the UN Security Council had been "illegal."

Iran's government spokesman Gholam-Hossein Elham, commenting on the U.S. intelligence report, said on Tuesday that Washington should "pay the price" for its accusations against Tehran.

"U.S. officials have so far inflicted many damage on the Iranian nation by spreading lies against the country and by disturbing public opinion, therefore, they have to pay the price for their action," Elham said.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said Tuesday that the latest U.S. intelligence report on Iran's nuclear activities was "consistent" with the organization's findings in recent years.

"Although Iran still needs to clarify some important aspects of its past and present nuclear activities, the agency has no concrete evidence of an ongoing nuclear weapons program or undeclared nuclear facilities in Iran," ElBaradei said in a statement.

This new assessment by the United States should help to defuse the current crisis, and encourage Iran to more actively cooperate with the IAEA on its current nuclear activities, he added.(MORE)