Posted on 02/17/2005 6:20:05 PM PST by wagglebee
WASHINGTON, (AFP) - There is no evidence to support the claim that Iran is developing nuclear weapons, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei said in an interview published by The Washington Post.
"On Iran, there really hasn't been much development, neither as a result of our inspections or as a result of intelligence," said the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) director general.
ElBaradei called for greater US participation in diplomatic efforts to engage Iran and North Korea in talks about their nuclear programs.
"North Korea and Iran are still the two 800-pound gorillas in the room and not much is happening," ElBaradei told The Washington Post at his IAEA office in Vienna. The daily said the interview was with four US newspapers.
The IAEA chief praised Britain, France and Germany for talking Iran into suspending its nuclear enrichment program for weapons-grade uranium.
"If I look at the big picture," he said, "there is no enrichment in Iran, and this is quite satisfactory, and I hope it keeps this way until we reach an agreement" for a permanent stop.
Iran and the EU embarked in December on negotiations towards a long-term agreement to give Tehran trade, technology and security aid and guarantees in return for it taking steps to reassure the international community that its nuclear program is strictly peaceful.
ElBaradei criticized Washington's refusal to talk with Iran, dismissing the argument that this would legitimize Tehran's Islamic government, which the United States accuses of supporting terrorism.
"I don't see talking to a regime as legitimization," ElBaradei said. "They talk to North Korea, and I don't think that legitimizes the North Korean regime."
He insisted that the only way to end the crisis with Iran was for the United States to join in the talks with its three European allies.
"I don't think the Iranian issue will be resolved without the United States putting fully its weight behind the Europeans," he said.
On North Korea's announcement last week that it had built nuclear weapons and was pulling out of six-nation talks about its atomic programme, ElBaradei said his agency could not verify Pyongyang's claim since its inspectors in the Stalinist nation were expelled two years ago.
However, he considered the North Koreans' announcement a sign that they were feeling ignored: "This is their trump card, and they will try to squeeze every drop of blood out of it."
ElBaradei urged the United States, China, Japan, South Korea and Russia to coax North Korea into accepting IAEA inspections once again, "the sooner, the better."
On Washington's intention to have him step down when his second term as IAEA chief ends in mid-2005, ElBaradei said his relations with the United States have been good: "I would hope we would continue to cooperate no matter what."
Oh, here we go again!
Mohamed ElBaradei is a Muslim and he's doing his best to cover up for rogue Muslim regimes.
The UN firmly states that the moon, stars, and sun are figments of mankinds collective imagination.
Iran's a "nice" country. They would never want to develop WMD. Har!
Not the moon, it's the Muslims deity.
Why is Israel sitting on their hands? This is the perfect time to show that they still have teeth.
It reminds me of a time when I went on a canoe trip in northern Minnesotta, the aging hippy guides tried to convince me that the bears up there are actually herbivores and no threat to humans.
Mohamed el-Baradei -- Strike ONE!!!
Turkish Press -- Strike TWO!!!
AFP (Agence France Presse) -- Strike THREE!!!
YER OUT!!!
[As a SF Giants fan, I can't wait for baseball to start]
Thanks for the opinion, MOHAMMAD.
Yeah a Muslim running the IAEA is like having the Sudan chair the Human Rights Commission... in other words, business as usual at the Corrupted Nations.
The sooner this guy is forced out the better.
Mohammed el Baradei is both incompetent and a liar.
Depends what the meaning of "proof" is.
Mo is covering for his Iranian fellow travelers.
He is as credible and reassuring to me as Baghdad Bob was.
Why do I not feel reassured by this cornrow?
Maybe because El Baradei took over the IAEA monitoring in North Korea in 1997- succeeding Hans Blix. The North Koreans flipped him off. Look where we are today.
Over the past 7 years, as head of the IAEA, El Baradei completely missed Libya's nuclear program. Qaddafi voluntarily surrendered his program components to the US and Great Britain last year. What a pleasant surprise.
Two chronologies of Iranian weapons development that strongly bely Mr El Baradie's statement that there is "no evidence".
http://fas.org/nuke/guide/iran/
http://www.nti.org/e_research/profiles/Iran/1825_4398.html
Perhaps you underestimate him. Think of him as an embedded spy using media accomplices to further his objectives.
Bush ought to use this statement of El Baradei's to test the democrats---he should ask them if he should believed EB and just start talkingt to Iran as though Iran doesn't have nucular weapons or capabilities, just like they NOW say Bush should have listened to Blix about Saddam not having WMDs.
Then, ask the dems if they feel "safe and secure" about ignoring the "rumors" that Iran has nukes just go on our merry way--
How do you think the dems would react if he did that, and a year from now Iran nuked Israel or Turkey or Britain...?
How do you know that ?
What if he had a stealth policy of aiding Islamic countries in pursuit of nuclear parity ?
One third of the Democrats would blame Bush now and then blame Bush again later. They will never be loyal Americans while they are out of power and they will undermine, weaken, and destroy America if they are in power.
Hear no evil, See no evil, Speak no evil.............EVIL.
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