US Spies Are Voice of Caution in Iran Debate

(NEWSER) - As the US confronts Iran over its nuclear program, many Americans can’t help but flash back to 2003, when Colin Powell made a compelling case before the UN that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. Is the uproar over Iran’s Qom facility the same kind of smoke and mirrors, asks the New York Times. Not exactly. This time, the White House isn’t beating the war drums, and there is less dispute over the facts. More»

Once agency was certain this spring, Obama kept info as leverage for talks

(NEWSER) - The CIA knew about Iran's recently revealed uranium-enrichment facility and had been collecting intelligence on it since 2006. The US, the UK, and France had been on the lookout for a new secret plant since the 2002 revelation of the Natanz facility. When intelligence and covert operations uncovered a new project “built into a mountain,” CIA director Leon Panetta tells Time, “obviously that raised question marks.” More»

IAEA head says Tehran is moving toward 'transparency and cooperation' on nuclear issue

(NEWSER) - Iran will allow UN inspectors into the newly-disclosed nuclear facility near the city of Qom on October 25, the head of the IAEA said yesterday, a day after arriving in Tehran. Iran and the West seem to be “shifting gears from confrontation into transparency and cooperation," he added approvingly. "I hope and trust Iran will be helpful with our inspectors." More»

Officials gather in Geneva villa for critical negotiations

(NEWSER) - Representatives from Iran arrived in a secluded villa in the countryside near Geneva to begin a critical round of nuclear negotiations with the Western powers today. In attendance were reps from the five UN Security Council states, Germany, and the EU. The US is looking for “practical steps and measurable results,” one American official tells the New York Times. These can’t be “talks just for the sake of talks,” especially after the Qom revelations. More»

Tehran preempts Obama accusation, admits to underground enrichment site

(NEWSER) - Iran confirmed today that it has built a second uranium enrichment site in an underground facility hidden from weapons inspectors—a revelation coming just hours before Barack Obama and other Western leaders were prepared to disclose it. The US has been tracking the secret project for years, officials say, but Obama decided to go public, before the G20 summit opens today, after Iran discovered that Western intelligence agencies had unearthed the site. This morning an anonymous Iranian official said that "reports by some foreign news agencies" about a "second enrichment center" were correct. More»