Martha Kearney, Presenter (MK): Well I spoke to the Foreign Secretary, David Miliband, a few minutes ago and asked him if he agreed with that US intelligence assessment?

David Miliband, Foreign Secretary (DM): Obviously this publication comes at a time of quite intensive diplomatic activity in respect of the Iranian nuclear file. We are studying the assessment carefully and obviously we do our own assessments but I think it's important to point out that we've got the IAEA report on Iran's nuclear plans as well as the work of Dr Solana, who is representing the six countries - the three European countries, UK, France and Germany, and then Russia, the US, the China - who are working in tandem to ensure that there's a very clear choice for Iran to engage with the international community and not proliferate and on the other hand to pursue a proliferation strategy and therefore suffer the consequences. So this report fits into a wider strategy that's being undertaken. It's obviously vital that Iran makes the right choice and does join an anti-proliferation drive rather than being a proliferator.

MK: So you seem to be being quite reluctant about endorsing this report? So you're holding off saying whether you agree that Iran has stopped its nuclear weapons programme?

DM: Well I am not going to get into a point-by-point dispute about a report that was published yesterday. What's important is that all six countries, including the United States, China, Russia, etc., are working very closely together with a very clear aim that Iran should be a proud and respected member of the international community, abiding by the rules that apply to us all, especially in respect of nuclear proliferation.

MK: Indeed but is it the British government's view that Iran is or isn't carrying out a nuclear weapons programme?

DM: Well obviously we never discuss the intelligence that we are pursuing. And what I've said face-to-face with the Iranian Foreign Minister is we are happy to work with them on a civilian nuclear power programme. Enrichment is part of that. The problem for Iran is that while it is enriching, according to us and according to them, they have no nuclear power plants to put this enriched uranium into. That's why people have fears about what the enrichment is for. That's why they have fears about the dangers of weaponisation. None of us want to see Iran as a nuclear proliferator. We are happy to work with them to show that there are benefits for them from choosing an anti-proliferation course but we've got to be clear, there are negative consequences if they pursue enrichment which could lead to a nuclear weapons programme.

MK: Do you think there are question-marks about the reliability of the intelligence estimate? I mean after all the same report did say in 2005 with high confidence that Iran is determined to develop nuclear weapons. I mean there has been a history of poor intelligence on WMD in the region of the Middle East.

DM: Well it's....I mean it's ironic you asking me whether I think there might be any reliability issues in respect of the dossier that's been published, or what some people might call a dossier. I think the best thing to say is that the American government has been very open about this. They've put the whole thing into the public domain. We want to work very closely with them bilaterally but also as part of the international community. I think that at this stage people should recognise that there's an ongoing dialogue going on with a very clear aim. None of us want Iran to set off a nuclear arms race in the Middle East. That has to be the absolute goal of policy. And all of the aspects that lead up to that are about trying to give Iran benefits from engaging with the international community with the consequential sanctions if they refuse to.

MK: Why not take Iran at its word, which is saying that it needs to develop a domestic nuclear power programme; it doesn't want to co-operate with Russia or any other country because it needs energy security?

DM: Well it is co-operating with Russia with the one nuclear power plant that it's got and this is an absolutely key point. I have said face-to-face to the Iranian Foreign Minister, fine for you to have an enrichment programme if you can show me the civilian nuclear power plants that this enriched uranium is going to go towards. Unfortunately there isn't a single nuclear power plant or even the planning permission for a single nuclear power plant that this enriched uranium could go towards and that's the problem. Because of the history of this area, where Iran has misled the international community, people are rightly sceptical of claims that don't add up on the Iranian side. It's not a matter of saying that Iran shouldn't have energy security. What it can't be is a source of political insecurity.

MK: And just finally let me ask you, do you think now this report does remove the possibility that the UK will be asked to support US hawks in any kind of military action against Iran?

DM: Well I've said many times that we are 100% focused with the rest of the international community on a diplomatic resolution to this issue. That remains the case. 100% focused on diplomatic means to get this thing properly done in the interests of Iran, in the interests of the Middle East and in the interests of the wider community.