US government thinks Iran isn’t working on nuclear weapons

All of the big papers today report that the most recent National Intelligence Estimate says that Iran froze its nuclear weapons program in 2003. The assessment is the consensus view of 16 US intelligence agencies. I don’t think that the war party clamoring for an attack on Iran will be discouraged at all by this news.

Fred Kaplan says this means that the US is not going to war with Iran while President Bush is in office.

I’m not one to gloat, but a month ago I wrote this about what I’m looking for in our next President:

Someone who is willing to engage with Iran and is willing to seek a solution that serves both our national interest and theirs. I don’t believe we live in a world where everything good for Iran is bad for America and vice versa.

Here’s what the National Intelligence Estimate says:

This, in turn, suggests that some combination of threats of intensified international scrutiny and pressure, along with opportunities for Iran to achieve its security, prestige, and goals for regional influence in other ways, might—if perceived by Iran’s leaders as credible—prompt Tehran to extend the current halt to its nuclear weapons program.