The US intelligence community said Monday that Iran appears "less determined to develop nuclear weapons" than the US government has been claiming for the past two years.
A US National Intelligence Estimate agreed to by all 16 US spy agencies cited "high confidence" that Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program in late 2003 and "moderate confidence" that it had not restarted as of mid-2007.
At the same time, the Islamic republic is thought to be "keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons," according to declassified key findings of the report, which is based on intelligence available as of October 31.
"But we do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons," according to the estimate. "Tehran's decision to halt its nuclear weapons program suggests it is less determined to develop nuclear weapons than we have been judging since 2005," it said, adding Iran appeared to have bowed to international pressure.
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