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Gaps in U.S. data on Iran

Julian Borger

Washington: A U.S. congressional report has warned that the U.S. is facing ``significant gaps'' in its intelligence on Iran that could be as serious as the shortcomings in its pre-war knowledge about Iraq, leaving Washington ill-prepared to assess Tehran's military capabilities.

The warning came as the Bush administration struggled to hold together an international coalition to force Iran to give up its nuclear programme. On Tuesday, Iran rejected a U.N. Security Council ultimatum to give up uranium enrichment by the end of this month, responding instead with a 21-page proposal for ``serious talks''. American diplomats said on Wednesday they were consulting their European allies on how to treat the proposal, in the face of Russian and Chinese reluctance to impose strong sanctions.

A new report by the staff of the House of Representatives intelligence committee suggested that the administration was ill-equipped to drive a hard bargain. It found ``significant gaps in our knowledge and understanding of the various areas of concern about Iran'' and said ``policymakers will need high-quality intelligence to assess Iranian intentions to prepare for any new round of negotiations.''

Strong position

Iran, by contrast, is widely considered to be in a strong negotiating position. Analysis published by the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London said there was ``little doubt that Iran has been the chief beneficiary of the war on terror in the Middle East [West Asia].'' The report said Iran had gained from the defeat of two of its most immediate regional rivals, Saddam Hussein in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan. ``The U.S.-driven agenda for confronting Iran is severely compromised by the confident ease with which Iran sits in its region,'' it said. —

© Guardian Newspapers Limited 2006

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