There is a lot of good news in the latest intelligence assessment about Iran. Tehran, we are now told, halted its secret nuclear weapons program in 2003, which means that President Bush has absolutely no excuse for going to war against Iran. We are also relieved that the intelligence community is now willing to question its own assumptions and challenge the White House’s fevered rhetoric.

First, the report says “with high confidence” that Iran did have a secret nuclear weapons program and that it stopped only after it got caught. Even now, Tehran’s scientists are working to master the skills to make nuclear fuel — the hardest part of building a weapon. Unfortunately, this report is going to make it harder to keep up the international pressure on Iran to curtail its fuel program and cooperate fully with inspectors.

Bush insisted yesterday that he believes in a carrot-and-stick approach. But he has yet to make a serious offer of comprehensive talks and real rewards. He is going to have to send someone a lot higher ranking than the US ambassador in Baghdad to deliver the message. We suggest Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. We don’t know if the Iranians will find any offer credible. It is the least Bush can do to try to salvage his credibility with the Americans and America’s allies.