WASHINGTON — President Bush on Tuesday called on Iran to explain why it had a secretive nuclear weapons program years ago and warned that such efforts must cease “for the sake of world peace.”
“Iran is dangerous,” Bush said. “We believe Iran had a secret military weapons program, and Iran must explain to the world why they had a program.”
Bush’s comments came after Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said it was “a step forward” that U.S. intelligence agencies had concluded that Tehran stopped developing its nuclear weapons program in 2003.
Ahmadinejad said an “entirely different” situation between the U.S. and Iran could arise if more steps like the intelligence report followed. White House press secretary Dana Perino dismissed Ahmadinejad’s comments as “fanciful thinking.”
Bush’s comments amounted to a renewed effort to keep pressure on Iran after the release of last week’s National Intelligence Estimate. On Tuesday, diplomats from the U.S., Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany discussed a draft plan for new United Nations sanctions against Iran.
Meanwhile, an exiled Iranian opposition group contested the intelligence report’s finding. “We announce vehemently that the clerical regime is currently continuing its drive to obtain nuclear weapons,” said the Paris-based National Council of Resistance of Iran.
