"We note the report and the US govt's reaction to it. We'll discuss it with US analysts in more detail in the coming days. But the report's conclusions justify the action already taken by the international community to get to the bottom of Iran's nuclear programme and to increase pressure on the regime to stop its enrichment and reprocessing activities."

As the White House said on 3 December "on the one hand it [the report] confirms that we were right to be worried about Iran seeking to develop nuclear weapons. On the other hand it tells us that we have made some progress in trying to ensure that that does not happen. But it also tells us that the risk of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon remains a very serious problem."