Iran declares victory after U.S. atom report

TEHRAN - Iran's president declared victory over the United States on Wednesday after a U.S. intelligence report contradicted the Bush administration's charges that Tehran was actively seeking a nuclear weapon.

The report would be a factor in deciding whether further United Nations sanctions on Iran were needed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Washington has been pushing for new sanctions in the face of resistance from Russia and China.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said that Iran would press ahead with its disputed nuclear programme, which the Islamic Republic says has only peaceful civilian aims.

"Today, the Iranian nation is victorious but you (the United States) are empty-handed," Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech to a rally in the western Iranian city of Ilam.

In response to the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) which said Iran halted a nuclear weapons programme in 2003, U.S. President George W. Bush said on Tuesday Iran remained a danger because it was mastering technology with a military use.

The NIE report said Iran was continuing to develop the technical means that could be applied to producing weapons.

Bush's comments were echoed on Wednesday by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"It is the very strong view of the administration, that the Iranian regime remains problematic, a dangerous regime," Rice said during a visit to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Bush again refused to rule out military action if diplomatic efforts failed to resolve the dispute and Washington said it would continue pressing for a third round of U.N. sanctions unless Iran halts uranium enrichment.

Ahmadinejad said Iran had no such plans for a suspension.

"If you want to start a new political game, the united Iranian nation will resist you and will not retreat one step from its programme," Ahmadinejad said. "We will continue our nuclear programme and we will not give it up."

PRESSURE

The report, released on Monday, threatened to hinder the U.S. push for more penalties after U.N. Security Council permanent member China reacted to the NIE report by saying "things have changed".

China only reluctantly backed two previous sets of U.N. sanctions aimed at making Iran stop uranium enrichment, a process with both military and civilian uses. France and Britain, also council members, said pressure should be kept up.

Russia, also part of the Security Council, said the report should be taken into account when considering fresh sanctions.

"We will assess the situation on proposals for a new resolution in the United Nations Security Council on the basis of (several) factors, including the publication by the United States of data showing that Iran does not have a military nuclear programme," Foreign Minister Lavrov said.

The U.S. remains committed to tougher sanctions to get Iran to halt uranium enrichment.

En route to Ethiopia, Rice told reporters travelling with her that the United States would continue pushing for a third U.N. sanctions resolution against Iran and it would be a "big mistake" to ease pressure on Tehran.

Israel, a close U.S. ally and arch-foe of the Islamic Republic, was unimpressed by the report and called for the U.S.-backed campaign to curb Iran's nuclear plans to press on.

The NIE report said Iran had probably halted its nuclear weapons programme in response to international pressure and said this suggested Tehran might be more vulnerable to influence on the issue than U.S. intelligence previously judged.