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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad speaking at the country's declared nuclear facility in Natanz in April. (AP)
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Israel, U.S. to meet to discuss differing assessments on Iran
By Amir Oren, Haaretz Correspondent
Tags: U.S., Iran, nuclear program 

Israeli and American officials involved in the intelligence analysis of Iran's nuclear efforts will meet soon to discuss the two countries' differing assessments of Iran's rate of progress toward achieving nuclear weapons.

Israel, which was surprised by the National Intelligence Assessment on Iran released last week, initiated the meeting. Defense Minister Ehud Barak approved the idea of a meeting, reportedly preferring lower-level talks that would avoid involving diplomatic positions or organizational responsibility for the meaning or interpretation of the data.


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efense establishment sources said this week that Israel accepted 90 to 95 percent of the intelligence material on which the American assessment was based, including the assertion that Iran stopped the development of nuclear weapons in 2003 but was continuing uranium enrichment and the development of long-range weapons.

Among the Israeli participants in the talks will be experts at the level of department heads in the Intelligence Branch of the Israel Defense Forces, the Mossad, the Air Force and the Atomic Energy Commission, mostly at the level of colonel or their civilian counterpart.

The U.S. intelligence community will be represented by representatives from the CIA, Pentagon intelligence agencies, the Department of Energy and the National Intelligence Council operating alongside the Director of National Intelligence. The main framers of the report were Leslie Ireland, issue manager on Iran in the National Intelligence Council and her colleague, Vann Van Diepen, issue manager for weapons of mass destruction.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said at a meeting this week with the editors of USA Today, a transcript of which was distributed by her office, that President George W. Bush had decided to release an unclassified version of the intelligence report to stress that along with stopping the development of nuclear weapons four years ago, Iran continues to enrich nuclear material for military purposes and to obtain missiles.

Rice said that if the Iranians "embraced" the whole intelligence report, the U.S. would want to know what program was stopped in 2003, how far it went and what the significance of was of stopping it, "given that weaponization is only one element of a weapons program."

Rice confirmed repeatedly that the U.S. demanded that Iran stop enrichment of uranium as a precondition to negotiations. "The situation we would not want to get into is where there are endless negotiations while Iran perfects the enrichment and reprocessing capability because once you've learned to do it - it's an engineering problem, " she said.

The Washington Post quoted last Saturday from statements made two years ago by former Iranian president Hashemi Rafsanjani to American experts then visiting Teheran. "Look, as long as we can enrich uranium and master the fuel cycle, we don't need anything else. Our neighbors will be able to draw the proper conclusions," he told his guests. The statement was also quoted by former American peace emissary Dennis Ross in the New Republic weekly.

Until the release of the American report, the defense establishment believed Israel might find itself involved in a military conflict with Iran in the coming year if Bush decided to act against Tehran and Iran responded against Israeli targets as well.

In the wake of this assumption, the extension of Air Force commander Major General Elyezer Shkedy's command, until April 2008, is under consideration. A number of additional reshuffles of Air Force brass depend on whether Shkedy remains in his post.

Chief of Staff Gabi Ashskenazi recently interviewed three candidates for Shkedy's job: the chief of planning on the General Staff, Major General Ido Nechushtan; Brigadier General Amir Ehsel, head of the Air Force headquarters and head of the IAF's Air Directorate, Brigadier General Yohanan Locker.



Related articles:
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  • Bush: World must continue to pressure Iran despite nuke report
  • Report: Iranian opposition group says Tehran did not halt nuke program
  • PM: Israel will work to expose Iran nuclear program
  • Israeli policy on Tehran unchanged by American assessment

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      1.   War or no war - pay attention! 03:39  |  Fred Omran 14/12/07
      2.   More American than the Americans? 03:42  |  jjvanka 14/12/07
      3.   Swallow our "intelligence" or we don`t fund you. 05:09  |  Fortuna Benmayor 14/12/07
      4.   Whatever ... 05:29  |  Analyst 14/12/07
      5.   Whatever ... 05:29  |  Analyst 14/12/07
      6.   But who isn`t accepting 05:55  |  Joshua 14/12/07
      7.   confused 07:08  |  moshe 14/12/07
      8.   israel HAS to accept 90-95% of it... 07:58  |  eric 14/12/07
      9.   #8 - Clarification for Eric... 08:58  |  JES 14/12/07
      10.   Second Holocaust coming 09:15  |  George 14/12/07
      11.   Uranium enrichment and long-range weapons 09:15  |  Clickfool 14/12/07
      12.   For George # 10 09:34  |  Clickfool 14/12/07
      13.   Big Daddy 09:36  |  luke 14/12/07
      14.   Poor little troll Clickfool 10:27  |  Stan 14/12/07
      15.   you been NOT CRYING LATELY ! 10:35  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 14/12/07
      16.   Making new military plans really seems to have become..... 10:40  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/12/07
      17.   ... without YOU ! 10:43  |  Atilla Karagözoğlu 14/12/07
      18.   difference between the two reports: many thousands of miles 10:47  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 14/12/07
      19.   For Stan in Hooverville # 14 11:03  |  Clickfool 14/12/07
      20.   come on LOVE BIRDS 11:14  |  ... 14/12/07
      21.   Mr. swiss & brain power 11:29  |  Stan 14/12/07
      22.   Israel attack on Iran With or without US 11:30  |  Mickey 14/12/07
      23.   This article is intentionally deceptive 11:34  |  Rowan Berkeley 14/12/07
      24.   Israel and Us do not differ, it is just a show 11:39  |  mehmet 14/12/07
      25.   For Mickey # 22 11:59  |  Clickfool 14/12/07
      26.   Clickfool re Stan 12:07  |  The Judge 14/12/07
      27.   # 21 Stan, bring it up !!! 12:13  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/12/07
      28.   So this is what is happening 12:27  |  Paul Wood 14/12/07
      29.   Israel is stuffed Part 1 12:41  |  Chris Linthwaite 14/12/07
      30.   Swiss` top idea 12:42  |  Stan 14/12/07
      31.   Israel is stuffed Part 2 12:46  |  Chris Linthwaite 14/12/07
      32.   Sorry Israel the neo-con coup d`etat is over in the US. 12:52  |  Michael 14/12/07
      33.   Peace is heading 12:53  |  Cheops 14/12/07
      34.   C Linthwaite`s theories 13:08  |  Stan 14/12/07
      35.   For Chris Linthwaite # 29 and #31 13:09  |  Clickfool 14/12/07
      36.   #32 does michael live in the real world ? 13:09  |  victor hardman 14/12/07
      37.   Iran Is Building Much More Than The World`s Nastiest Taser ... 13:10  |  Lavi 14/12/07
      38.   For Chris Linthwaite again 13:11  |  Clickfool 14/12/07
      39.   Where did Clickfool go? 13:11  |  The Judge 14/12/07
      40.   # 30 Stan 13:19  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/12/07
      41.   Drag US to Another War 13:37  |  Darwish 14/12/07
      42.   Solid-fuel Shihab 3 only makes sense for nuclear delivery 13:46  |  Dr. L. Brnd 14/12/07
      43.   What America could do 14:00  |  Alicia 14/12/07
      44.   difference between the two reports: `konseptsia` 14:22  |  Hubal 14/12/07
      45.   difference between the two reports: `konseptsia` 14:33  |  Hubal 14/12/07
      46.   For Clickfool - On Iran 14:54  |  Marcos 14/12/07
      47.   DINO - to benign anti-Semite from benign anti- Swiss 14:55  |  17 14/12/07
      48.   Swiss` `democracy` in Lebanon(!) 15:15  |  Stan 14/12/07
      49.   #34 Dr L Brnd 15:49  |  Paul Wood 14/12/07
      50.   #34 Stan 15:51  |  Chris Linthwaite 14/12/07
      51.   Those Illusory Nuclear weapons Again 16:51  |  joebhed 14/12/07
      52.   Moshe--confusion 16:52  |  Mark T 14/12/07
      53.   # 47 17, the golden rule, the golden rule...... 16:52  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/12/07
      54.   Click naivete 16:54  |  Mark T 14/12/07
      55.   #25 17:00  |  Moshe 14/12/07
      56.   Click--militaries 17:00  |  Mark T 14/12/07
      57.   Chimpanzees DNA is in 98% identical to the human one 17:02  |  Absolute Sweden 14/12/07
      58.   Stan--good assessment 17:03  |  Mark t 14/12/07
      59.   Mickey in S Leb 17:06  |  Mark T 14/12/07
      60.   # 48 Stan "Tick, tick, tick, tick....." 17:07  |  Swiss (Dino) 14/12/07
      61.   Mehmet reprecussions 17:08  |  mark t 14/12/07
      62.   Click-Dimona 17:12  |  Mark T 14/12/07
      63.   Paul Wood 17:27  |  Mark T 14/12/07
      64.   # Wrong again,....Click.! 17:31  |  Stephen. 14/12/07
      65.   Israel should go to war 17:52  |  John 14/12/07
      66.   Say Brnd---stop whining!! 17:54  |  ballistic 14/12/07
      67.   Alicia #43 17:55  |  Neal 14/12/07
      68.   # 14 Stan..CLICK,IS A NOBODY..JUST AN ATTENTION SEEKER,AND.. 18:02  |  Kathy 14/12/07
      69.   Nothing But The Truth. 18:03  |  Cool B 14/12/07
      70.   # 18 Cipora J.K ** You`ve Said I. DESPERATE SAUDIS,AND SOMEWHAT 18:31  |  Kathy 14/12/07
      71.   Hubal/ "konseptsia"? Clickfool/Mickey- I would add to that 18:32  |  Dorothy 14/12/07
      72.   43 Alicia - Been There, Done That, Got the Teeshirt 18:33  |  Mark of Lewiston 14/12/07
      73.   John-Iraq 18:37  |  Mark t 14/12/07
      74.   Ballistic-war 18:40  |  Mark T 14/12/07
      75.   #53 Neil: Seems they have lots in common! 18:40  |  Alicia 14/12/07
      76.   perpetual greed 18:41  |  SAM 14/12/07
      77.   Kathy re the usual suspects 18:42  |  Stan 14/12/07
      78.   Cool B nukes 18:45  |  Mark T 14/12/07
      79.   #42, Dr. Brand 18:47  |  Cipora Julianna Kohn 14/12/07