Anthony Cordesman, the CSIS Arleigh A. Burke Chair in Strategy, was quoted by Bloomberg, "Bush Push for Iran Sanctions May

A new U.S. intelligence assessment that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program four years ago is likely to complicate President George W. Bush's drive for stiffer international sanctions on the Iranian government, an administration official and security experts said.

White House National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley acknowledged that possibility yesterday, even as he pointed to the report's conclusion that Iran had stopped its program precisely because of international pressure.

"The NIE is good news in that it indicates that past efforts to pressure Iran have had some impact, and there is time for negotiation," Cordesman wrote in an analysis. "The bad news is that many will focus only on taking the more positive news out of context."

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