The only surprising thing is the administration (or at least part of it) is admitting what many already figured:
A new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran's nuclear capabilities and intentions says international pressure and scrutiny caused Iran to stop work on nuclear weapons in late 2003, and the work had not resumed as of mid-2007.
In fact, even if Iran restarted its program and went full tilt -- a big "if" -- it wouldn't have enough nuclear fuel to matter until 2010 at the earliest. A more likely assessment for this hypothetical is 2013, and it may not happen until even 2015.
Plenty of time for continued diplomacy and pressure to work on a country that has already bowed to international diplomacy and pressure (see the quote above).
A determination like this about Iraq would've been nice back in, I don't know, 2002?
UPDATE: Lowell has posted Sen. Jim Webb's statement on this news in the comments
Our sanctions worked (even though the program stopped before the sanctions began) so we need to bomb them anyway. Besides we have all these bombs lying around doing nothing. Anyhow I, George Bush, are always right. (I told them to get me the intelligence I needed and now they have betrayed me.)
How prescient your statement --- "and now they have betrayed me." Now all we have to worry about is Rudy getting elected, because that's the line his foreign policy guy Norman Putzhead, er, Podhoretz is giving:
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/...
But I entertain an even darker suspicion. It is that the intelligence community, which has for some years now been leaking material calculated to undermine George W. Bush, is doing it again. This time the purpose is to head off the possibility that the President may order air strikes on the Iranian nuclear installations.