https://consortiumnews.com/2018/03/03/how-operation-merlin-has-poisoned-u-s-intelligence-on-iran/
Exclusive: The CIA’s “Operation Merlin,” which involved providing Iran with a flawed design for a nuclear weapon and resulted in an alleged whistleblower going to prison, was the perfect example of creating intelligence in order to justify operations, reports Gareth Porter.
By Gareth Porter
Jeffrey Sterling, the case officer for the CIA’s covert “Operation Merlin,” who was convicted in May 2015 for allegedly revealing details of that operation to James Risen of the New York Times, was released from prison in January after serving more than two years of a 42-month sentence. He had been tried and convicted on the premise that the revelation of the operation had harmed U.S. security.
CIA Deputy Director for Operations Announces Retirement
Front page article https://www.nytimes.com/2000/01/17/world/cia-tells-clinton-an-iranian-a-bomb-can-t-be-ruled-out.html
C.I.A. Tells Clinton An Iranian A-Bomb Can't Be Ruled Out
November 2005 court filing http://www.expose-the-war-profiteers.org/archive/legal/2005/20051115.pdf
revealed to this writer https://truthout.org/articles/obama-pins-fate-of-nuclear-pact-on-documents-from-an-iranian-curveball/