Former CIA official:

US undermining validity of int'l reports

TEHRAN(defapress)– Politicizing the 'international open source information' by Washington would undermine the utility of such reports, a former CIA official said, referring to President Donald Trump's attempts to kill Iran nuclear deal.

News ID: 65656

Date: 19 August 2017 - 13:59

'Our intelligence analysts, who have access to all of our clandestine collection, access to what our allies around the world are collecting and access to IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) reports and other open source information are in the best position to make that assessment of whether Iran is complying with the nuclear deal,' former deputy director of the CIA, David Cohen told CNN on Friday.

The landmark nuclear agreement, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) was inked between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany in July 2015.

Based on the agreement, Iran accepted to curb its nuclear program in return for sanctions relief.

US President Donald Trump is trying to question the international reliable reports, including the IAEA report on Iran's compliance with the nuclear deal it has signed with the world major powers, Cohen added.

If the US intelligence is 'degraded' and 'politicized' by Trump, 'that undermines the utility of that intelligence all across the board,' he said.

'If it's politicized, that credibility and reliability is undermined,' former official of the US Central Intelligence Agency said.

Trump administration as well as the IAEA has repeatedly confirmed Iran's commitment to the JCPOA, but some US media has reported that Trump and his team are trying to show that Iran is not complying with the agreement.

Cohen said that even if Iran at some point violates its commitments, the international community, including the US allies in Europe would not come along with Washington in re-imposing sanctions on Iran.