NEW YORK — Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney criticized ABC News on Wednesday for its report about CIA plans in Iran, saying it could potentially jeopardize national security and endanger lives.

ABC News rejected Romney's analysis and said it had given the CIA a chance to make the case that its report put people at risk but the agency didn't respond.

The network led its top-rated "World News" on Tuesday with Brian Ross' report saying that President Bush had directed the CIA to carry out secret operations against Iran both inside and outside that country. The network said the campaign was "non-lethal" and involved propaganda broadcasts, the planting of newspaper articles and the manipulation of Iran's currency and banking transactions.

Romney, during a campaign appearance in Tulsa, Okla., said he was shocked that ABC News would broadcast the report.

"The reporting has the potential of jeopardizing our national security," the former Massachusetts governor said. "Stated quite plainly, it has the potential of affecting human life. We may never know."

He said he did not support censorship but that "the media has a responsibility to police itself."

ABC News' Web site was flooded with 1,683 comments within a day of the broadcast, with one poster urging ABC to "keep your big mouths shut."

ABC News President David Westin said the network has changed or withheld stories in the past if the CIA convincingly says it could put lives or operations in jeopardy. The CIA was contacted six days ago about Ross' story and chose not to say anything about it, he said.

The report didn't specify timing or any specific operations, Westin said. CIA activity in Iran has been reported before, he said, including within that country. What made Tuesday's story new was Bush formally signing documents authorizing the operations, he said.

"The facts don't bear out the accusations (from Romney)," Westin said. "I even think that any brief look at the facts says that. This is not a complicated one."

Romney had called him early Tuesday to give him a heads-up that he was making the accusations, Westin said.