Chairman of the Experts Assembly Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani said on Wednesday that the "important" report issued by 16 US intelligence agencies is neither against Tehran nor benefits Washington. The report released on December 3 by the US National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), said, they did not "assume that Iran intends to acquire nuclear weapons."
Addressing the 4th congress of Moderation and Development, he commented on reasons for issuing the report, stressing: "My primary speculation is that the report has been issued either by the Democrats or independent groups. The report might have been issued by experts since their investigation has indicated that Iran has not been pursuing nuclear weapons in these years."
"The US president had already been informed of the report and as the Israeli prime minister announced, the report was presented to him during the Annapolis conference by President Bush," Rafsanjani added, according to IRNA.
They knew that if the White House opposed the report, they would face another defeat at international arena, he said, adding that they knew that they had to respond to the public opinion therefore the situation was in a way that the report had to be published.
Referring to the recent report of Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohamed ElBaradei, he said, "The two reports (NIE and IAEA) changed the situation in a way that the White House was faced with problems in issuing further sanctions against Iran and other issues such as military invasion against the country," Rafsanjani, who is the former Iranian president reiterated.
Despite such reports, the US and its allies have intensified their anti-Iran efforts to show their hatred towards the Iranian nation, he said commenting on recent anti-Iran moves by Washington and certain European states.
