Great Britain’s spy chiefs are saying the CIA has had the wool pulled over their eyes by Tehran, and the chances of an Israeli attack are increase because of it:
A senior British official delivered a withering assessment of US intelligence-gathering abilities in the Middle East and revealed that British spies shared the concerns of Israeli defence chiefs that Iran was still pursuing nuclear weapons.
advertisementThe source said British analysts believed that Iranian nuclear staff, knowing their phones were tapped, deliberately gave misinformation. “We are sceptical.(sic) We want to know what the basis of it is, where did it come from? Was it on the basis of the defector? Was it on the basis of the intercept material? They say things on the phone because they know we are up on the phones. They say black is white. They will say anything to throw us off.
“It’s not as if the American intelligence agencies are regarded as brilliant performers in that region. They got badly burned over Iraq.”
And these are our friends.
France and Germany are also saying Iran is still a nuclear threat.
Speaking in a joint news conference at Élysée Palace, President Nicolas Sarkozy and Chancellor Angela Merkel indicated that the findings had not changed their mind.
“The threat exists,” said Sarkozy, one of the staunchest defenders of tough new measures. “Notwithstanding the latest elements, everyone is fully conscious of the fact that there is a will among the Iranian leaders to obtain nuclear weapons.”
“I don’t see why we should renounce sanctions,” he added. “What made Iran budge so far has been sanctions and firmness.”
Merkel stopped short of explicitly mentioning sanctions, but also appeared determined to support current negotiations in the UN Security Council about new measures.
“I think that we are in a process and that Iran continues to pose a danger,” she said.
