Bush: NIE report backs position in Iran

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (UPI) -- The conclusion Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program bolstered his belief Iran poses a nuclear threat, U.S. President George Bush said Tuesday.

"Iran was dangerous. Iran is dangerous. Iran will be dangerous if they have the knowledge to make a nuclear weapon," Bush said during a news conference that dealt mainly with the National Intelligence Estimate's report on the 2003 suspension Iran's nuclear weapons program.

Bush said the NIE was a rallying cry to the international community "to pressure the Iranian regime to suspend" its nuclear program.

Bush said he learned about the NIE content last week. Bush said he was told that there was "new information" in August, but the information had to be analyzed before he was briefed.

Iran has the right to nuclear power for civilian purposes, Bush said. But because Iran "is a country that had a covert nuclear program" and is trying to enrich uranium, "what's to say wouldn't start another?"

"I think the NIE makes it clear that Iran needs to be taken seriously as a threat to peace," he said. "If you want to avoid a really problematic situation in the Middle East, now's the time ... to work together."