Iran Quotes

DatePersonQuoteSourceTrue?

March15,2009Former VicePresident DickCheney"[W]e still have an Iran that I believe is pursuingnuclear weapons. What they've done, I think, asbest I can tell -- I'm not reading the intelligencereports anymore like I did before January -- is theyproduced a fair amount of low enriched uranium,the kind that you would use for a power plant.That's the hardest step to get to. Once you havegot low enriched uranium, it's relatively simple tochange it to highly enriched uranium, and that's thelast step that's needed before you've got ﬁssilematerial for a weapon. So I'm not sure exactlywhere they are at this point, but I am conﬁdent ofwhat their objective is, and I don't think that'schanged."Interview with CNN

ʼ

s

State of the Union

with John KingVideo: CNN (

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/politics/2009/03/15/king.intv.cheney.cnn

)

“We judge with high conﬁdence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weaponsprogram.”

-- 2007 National Intelligence Estimate on Iran (PDF

)

“The Agency has been able to continue to verify the non-diversion of declared nuclearmaterial in Iran.”

-- Feb. 19, 2009 International Atomic Energy Agency report (PDF)

DatePersonQuoteSourceTrue?

March10,2009Director ofNationalIntelligenceAdmiral DennisBlairLEVIN: Now does the intelligence communityassess that Iran currently has made the decision toproduce highly enriched uranium for a warhead ora bomb?BLAIR: We assess that Iran has not yet made thatdecision.--I don't think those missile developments, SenatorMcCain, prejudice the nuclear weapons decisionone way or another. I believe those are separatedecisions. The same missiles can launch vehiclesinto space, they can launch warheads, eitherconventional or nuclear, onto land targets. And Iranis pursuing those for those multiple purposes.

Whether they develop a nuclear weapon, whichcould then be put in that warhead, I believe, is aseparate decision which Iran has not made yet.

Senate Armed ServicesCommittee hearing.Exchanges with CommitteeChairman Carl Levin (D-MI)and Sen. John McCain (R-AZ.Video: CSPAN (http:// cspan.org/Watch/ watch.aspx?MediaId=HP-A-16214)

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DatePersonQuoteSourceTrue?

March6, 2009Secretary of StateHillary ClintonNICKLASCH: [C]an Iran be integrated in the peaceprocess?CLINTON: It's up to Iran.

They are veryaggressive in their pursuit of nuclear weapons

,in their interference with other countries' internalaffairs, with their funding and deployment ofterrorists like Hamas and Hezbollah to furtherIranian aim.Interview with KaiNicklasch of ZDF-TV(Germany) (http:// www.state.gov/secretary/ rm/2009a/03/120117.htm)March5, 2009Secretary of StateHillary Clinton“I know that there's an ongoing debate about whatthe status of Iran's nuclear weapons productioncapacity is, but

I don't think there is a credibledebate about their intention

. Our task is todissuade them, deter them, prevent them fromacquiring a nuclear weapon, which given the rangeof the missiles they currently have access tothreatens Europe and Arab neighbors in the Gulf,not the United States.”Press Availability afterNATO Meeting (http:// www.state.gov/secretary/ rm/2009a/03/120068.htm)March3, 2009State DepartmentSpokesmanGordon Duguid“Our reaction is that our missile defense program isabout Iran. It is to deal with the threat from theIranian regime that we perceive through

Iran

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spursuit of not only nuclear weapons but missiletechnology

.”Daily Press Brieﬁng (http:// www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ dpb/2009/03/119953.htm

)