Tehran declares victory after US intelligence report

IRAN’S president declared victory over the United States yesterday while the head of a UN watchdog said Iran had been “somewhat vindicated” by a US report that it halted its nuclear weapons programme in 2003.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said his country would press ahead with its nuclear programme, which the Islamic Republic says has only peaceful civilian aims.

“Today, the Iranian nation is victorious but you (the United States) are empty-handed,” Mr Ahmadinejad told a rally in Ilam.

Mohamed El-Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said the report gave Iran a chance to resolve the crisis. Meanwhile former chief UN arms inspector Hans Blix said it meant there would be no military action against Iran “in the intermediate future”.