Former top George W. Bush administration official Gen. Michael Hayden said on Thursday that unless Iran provides the West with extensive access to its suspected nuclear facilities—a concession the Islamic regime has strenuously refused—U.S. intelligence agencies will be unable to detect its development of a bomb.
Hayden, who previously directed the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) under Bush, said at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing that verification is always the toughest aspect of any nuclear agreement, whether with Iran or North Korea. The latter eventually obtained nuclear weapons despite international negotiators’ attempt to prevent such an outcome.
“Absent an invasive inspection regime, with freedom to visit all sites on short notice, American intelligence cannot provide adequate warning of Iranian nuclear developments,” Hayden said.
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