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Head of UN nuclear watchdog sees Iran cooperation
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 04 - 10 - 2009


The visiting head of the U.N. nuclear
watchdog set Oct. 25 as the date for his inspectors to
check Iran's newly revealed uranium enrichment site and
struck an upbeat note Sunday, saying Tehran's confrontation
with the West is shifting gears to more cooperation and
transparency, AP reported.
Though the United Nations has no «concrete proof» of an
ongoing nuclear weapons program, the chief of the U.N.'s
International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, said
he has «concerns about Iran's future intentions.»
The inspection of the site and the outcome of more nuclear
talks later this month with the United States and its
allies will be crucial in determining the direction of the
six-year standoff over Iran's nuclear activities.
«I see that we are at a critical moment. I see that we
are shifting gears from confrontation into transparency and
cooperation,» ElBaradei said at a news conference in
Tehran with Iran's top nuclear official.
His visit followed a week of intense diplomatic activity
surrounding Iran's nuclear program, set off by the
revelation that Tehran had been secretly constructing a new
uranium enrichment plant just north of the holy city of
Qom. On Thursday, Iran and six world powers put nuclear
talks back on track at a landmark session near Geneva that
included the highest-level bilateral contact with the U.S.
in years.
President Barack Obama's national security adviser said
Sunday that Washington was also pleased with the level of
cooperation from Iran.
«The fact that Iran came to the table and seemingly
showed some degree of cooperation, I think, is a good
thing,» James Jones said on CNN's «State of the Union»
program.
«But this is not going to be an open-ended process. ...
We, the world community, want to be satisfied within a
short period of time,» Jones added. «So it's not going to
be extended discussions that we're going to have before we
draw our conclusions to what their real intent is. But for
now, I think things are moving in the right direction.»
ElBaradei was in Iran to set up the U.N. inspection of the
facility near Qom.
The site sparked serious concern, in part because its
location next to a military base and partly inside a
mountain adds to suspicions that Iran's nuclear program
could have a military dimension. Obama, who accuses Iran of
seeking to keep the site hidden for years before notifying
the IAEA about it, has said Tehran's actions «raised grave
doubts» about its promise to use nuclear technology for
peaceful purposes only.
Iran, which insists its nuclear work is only for
nonmilitary purposes like energy production and medical
research, says the site's location near a military base is
intended to protect it from potential aerial bombing.
«It is important for us to send our inspectors to do a
comprehensive verification of that facility, to assure
ourselves that it is a facility that is built for peaceful
purposes,» ElBaradei said, seated beside Ali Akbar Salehi,
the head of Iran's nuclear agency. «We agreed that our
inspectors would come here on the 25th of October to do the
inspection and to go to Qom and I hope and I trust that
Iran will be as transparent with our inspectors team as
possible.»
The U.S. ambassador to the United Nations said that the
permanent members of the U.N. Security Council are studying
options for more sanctions if Iran does not fully open its
nuclear program to international inspections.
«But right now we are in a period of intense
negotiations,» said Ambassador Susan Rice, speaking on NBC
TV's «Meet the Press.» «It's not an infinite period.
It's a very finite period,» she said, while refusing to
set a deadline.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad told ElBaradei that
Iran's cooperation with the agency has left no ambiguity
over Tehran's nuclear activities.
«Outstanding issues were resolved due to good cooperation
between Iran and the agency,» state TV quoted Ahmadinejad
as saying. «Today, there are no ambiguous issues left.»
But the IAEA says there are still issues that Iran needs
to clarify, including alleged studies by Iran on high
explosives and a missile delivery system for a nuclear
warhead.
«As I have said many times and I continue to say today,
the agency has no complete proof that there is an ongoing
weapons program in Iran,» ElBaradei said. «There are
allegations that Iran has conducted weaponization studies.
However these allegations we are still looking into and we
are looking to Iran to help us clarify,» he added.
Iranian officials have challenged Obama's accusations that
they sought to keep the new enrichment site hidden, saying
a Sept. 21 letter informing the IAEA about the facility was
sent a year earlier than required.
«We disagree with the interpretation of Iran. ... Iran
should have informed the IAEA the day it decided to
construct the facility,» ElBaradei said.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty's Additional Protocol
requires notification before construction starts. The
Additional Protocol, which Iran says it stopped
implementing in response to U.N. sanctions, also allows
intrusive inspections.
«It is important to us that Iran reapplies the Additional
Protocol,» ElBaradei said.
ElBaradei also discussed a plan to allow Russia to take
some of Iran's processed uranium and enrich it to higher
levels to fuel a research reactor in Tehran.
He said that there would be a meeting Oct. 19 in Vienna
with Iran, the U.S., France and Russia to discuss the
details of that agreement.


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