CNN reported that following declassification of a summary of the latest National Intelligence Estimate about Iran’s nuclear program, the U.S. National Security adviser Stephen Hadley said Iran remains a serious threat.

“We have good reason to continue to be concerned about Iran developing a nuclear weapon” he told reporters at the White House. “In the words of the NIE, quote, Iranian entities are continuing to develop a range of technical capabilities that could be applied to producing nuclear weapons if a decision is made to do so.”

He said technology being developed for Iran’s civilian nuclear power program could be used to enrich uranium for use in weapons, and that Iran is continuing to develop ballistic missiles.

Hadley said the intelligence community came to the new conclusions on Tuesday, based on information gathered over the past few months, and President Bush was briefed about them on Wednesday.

In August 2002 an Iranian opposition group revealed a uranium enrichment compound in Natanz site. The compound was secret and it was not reported to IAEA as it was requested by the watchdog agency. Iran was not running any nuclear reactor at the time, the question remains why Iran needed to enrich uranium? Said Hadley.

He said U.S. policy toward Iran has not changed because of the new report.