U.S. government officials say that intelligence reports about Chalabi’s visit to Iran, which reached Washington just as final planning for the war was underway, suggested Chalabi had assured the Iranians that their influence would be “safeguarded” in a postwar Iraq. Sources say the INC leader’s enemies in Washington, which include the CIA and State Department, used the intelligence about his Tehran visit to press the White House to block moves by Chalabi, which were backed by Pentagon conservatives, to set up a prewar government-in-exile, presumably led by Chalabi himself. Some sources say officials in the office of Vice President Dick Cheney were particularly dismayed at Chalabi’s alleged soothing of Iran. An administration source denied that Cheney aides were distressed over intelligence about Chalabi’s visit to Tehran. A White House official said that while some administration factions might favor Chalabi, it is the policy of President Bush and national-security adviser Condoleezza Rice that Chalabi’s leader-ship ambitions be given no greater weight than those of rival contenders, including some who stuck it out inside Iraq during the decades of Saddam Hussein’s rule.
