Iran Flip Shows US Intelligence Turnaround

In reversing its 2005 finding that Iran was pursuing nuclear weapons, the US intelligence community is putting into practice changes adopted after crucial failures in the run-up to the Iraq war. The original used weak sourcing and less than rigorous fact-gathering, critics say. “I think people should take comfort from the fact that they’ve changed their view," a former CIA official tells the New York Times.

Both the US and Iran, meanwhile, kept up the rhetoric today, with Bush warning that Tehran must fully disclose all of its nuclear work prior to 2003 or face further international isolation. "The choice is up to the Iranian regime," Bush said. Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, meanwhile, hailed the report as a victory against America and Western powers. (More intelligence stories.)