VIENNA: UN atomic watchdog chief Mohamed El-Baradei yesterday urged Iran to “unblock” a long-running nuclear standoff and expressed hope that a possible change in US policy toward Tehran may help break the deadlock.
“I again urge Iran to implement all measures required to build confidence in the exclusively peaceful nature of its nuclear program at the earliest possible date and to unblock this stalemated situation,” El-Baradei said in his opening speech to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s 35-member board of governors here.
“I am hopeful that the apparent fresh approach by the international community to dialogue with Iran will give new impetus to the efforts to resolve this longstanding issue,” he added.
The Egyptian-born diplomat did not specifically mention the United States, but he was clearly referring to President Barack Obama’s signal that he is ready to talk with Iran directly.
Gregory Schulte, the US ambassador to the IAEA, also addressed the board meeting, slated to last all week. “As the first meeting since Obama’s inauguration in January, this is a moment of complex challenge for the IAEA, but also a moment of unparalleled opportunity,” he said.
Under former President George W. Bush, relations between Washington and El-Baradei were not always easy. The US accused El-Baradei of being too soft on Iran, while he viewed Washington’s refusal to negotiate directly with Tehran as unhelpful.
“My delegation notes with appreciation the positive interest of member states in the US presidential election and in the ongoing adjustment and review of US policies, including many that affect the work of the agency,” Schulte said. “The new administration intends to strengthen diplomatic efforts to address the challenges facing the IAEA, such as Syria and Iran,” he said.
Even after a six-year investigation, the IAEA has been unable to say once and for all whether Iran’s nuclear program is entirely peaceful, as Tehran claims.
Iran’s first satellite launch in February and the announcement that its first nuclear power plant in Bushehr could go on line within months have heightened proliferation concerns in many countries, as has a prediction that Tehran may soon be in a position to build a nuclear bomb. The chief of the US military, Adm. Mike Mullen, told CNN on Sunday that Iran has enough fissile material for a bomb, the first time that Washington has made such an assessment.
But US Defense Secretary Robert Gates was more cautious. “They are not close to a weapon at this point,” he said.
Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi denied that Tehran was seeking to make a nuclear bomb. “All this talk is baseless,” he said.
Turning to the IAEA’s investigation into allegations of illicit nuclear work by Syria, El-Baradei pressed Damascus to come clean on a suspect site in the remote desert, which the US alleges had been an undeclared nuclear reactor until it was bombed by Israeli planes in September 2007.
“The agency expects Syria to provide additional information and supporting documentation about the past use and nature of the building at the Dair Alzour site,” El-Baradei said.
The IAEA has already said that the building bore some of the characteristics of a nuclear facility. And UN inspectors have detected “significant” traces of man-made uranium at the site, as yet unexplained by Damascus.
Syria has claimed the uranium came from the Israeli bombs, but the watchdog has more or less ruled out that interpretation.
“Our current assessment is that there is a low probability that the uranium was introduced by the use of missiles,” El-Baradei said yesterday.
