CIA analysis finds no Iranian nuclear weapons drive: Report (Agence France-Presse)

  By Agence France-Presse

  Nov. 19, 2006 -- WASHINGTON -- A classified draft CIA assessment has found no firm evidence of a secret drive by Iran to develop nuclear weapons, as alleged by the White House, a top U.S. investigative reporter said Saturday.

  Seymour Hersh, writing in an article for the Nov. 27 issue of the magazine The New Yorker released in advance, reported on whether the administration of Republican President George W. Bush was more, or less, inclined to attack Iran after Democrats won control of Congress last week.

  A month before the Nov. 7 legislative elections, Hersh wrote, Vice President Dick Cheney attended a national-security discussion that touched on the impact of Democratic victory in both chambers on Iran policy. “If the Democrats won on November 7th, the vice president said, that victory would not stop the administration from pursuing a military option with Iran,” Hersh wrote, citing a source familiar with the discussion.

  Cheney said the White House would circumvent any legislative restrictions “and thus stop Congress from getting in its way,” he said.

  The Democratic victory unleashed a surge of calls for the Bush administration to begin direct talks with Iran.

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