Iran say US intelligence report a 'step forward'

Review concludes Tehran stopped its atomic weapons program 4 years ago

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updated 7:59 a.m. ET Dec. 11, 2007

TEHRAN, Iran - President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday called a US intelligence review concluding Iran stopped developing its atomic weapons program four years ago a "step forward" and said more such steps could create an "entirely different" situation between the two countries.

"We consider this measure by the US government a positive step. It is a step forward," Ahmadinejad told a press conference.

"If one or two other steps are taken, the issues we have in front of us will be entirely different and will lose their complexity, and the way will be open for the resolution of basic issues in the region and in dealings between the two sides," Ahmadinejad said.

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Iran has said its nuclear program is peaceful, but until last week, the United States and Western allies had countered that Iran was hiding plans for a bomb. The latest US intelligence assessment on Iran, however, says Tehran once had a weapons program but shelved it in 2003.

On Tuesday, diplomats from the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany are to discuss a draft plan for new United Nations sanctions against Iran. If passed by the Security Council, the plan would slap a third round of sanctions on Iran for defying international demands that it halt its enrichment of uranium.