Iran's president declared victory over the United States today after a US intelligence report contradicted the Bush administration's charges that Tehran was actively seeking a nuclear weapon.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad also said that Iran would press ahead with its disputed 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 said in a televised speech to a rally in the western Iranian city of Ilam.
The NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) report, published yesterday, said Iran halted a nuclear weapons programme in 2003
Nevertheless US President George W. Bush today warned Iran it must "come clean" about its nuclear activities or else face isolation by the international community.
Standing on the airport tarmac upon arrival in Omaha, Mr Bush insisted that Iran has not fully accounted for its nuclear activities as it continues to defy demands to halt uranium enrichment.
"It is clear from the latest NIE (National Intelligence Estimate) that the Iranian government has more to explain about its nuclear intentions and past actions, especially the covert nuclear weapons program pursued into the fall of 2003 which the Iranian regime has yet to acknowledge," Mr Bush said.
Washington has been pushing for new sanctions in the face of resistance from Russia and China. The report would be a factor in deciding whether further United Nations sanctions on Iran were needed, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.
Mr Bush has refused to rule out military action if diplomatic efforts failed to resolve the dispute, and Washington said it would continue pressing for a third round of UN sanctions unless Iran halts uranium enrichment.
Mr Ahmadinejad said Iran had no such plans for a suspension. "If you want to start a new political game, the united Iranian nation will resist you and will not retreat one step from its programme," Mr Ahmadinejad said.
"We will continue our nuclear programme and we will not give it up."