IAEA chief: Iran on path to build nukes

'US must negotiate with Teheran on nuclear issue;' Russia, US to seek new UN resolution on Iran.

By AP, JPOST STAFF
ElBaradei 224.88 (photo credit: AP [file])
ElBaradei 224.88
(photo credit: AP [file])
The head of the UN's nuclear watchdog has warned that Iran is one of several countries on the path to possessing the ingredients for making a nuclear weapon, according to a German newspaper report Friday. International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said there was a list of countries that have both the fissile material and the technical means to assemble an atomic weapon within a few months, according to the Sueddeutsche Zeitung daily. "Iran is also on this path," ElBaradei was quoted as saying. ElBaradei said Iran's desire to possess a nuclear weapon was a product of "an underlying feeling of insecurity and the desire to be recognized as a regional power," according to the paper. "We live in a world in which atomic weapons promise power and prestige," he said. The German daily quoted ElBaradei as saying that the Islamic Republic was definitely on its way to "virtual" nuclear weapon status, however he said that the country could not "break out" to a bomb whilst IAEA monitors continue to supervise its nuclear sites. "They have the cookbook ... [But] right now they don't yet have the ingredients - enough nuclear material to make a bomb overnight," ElBaradei was quoted as saying. He did not, however, give a time frame as to how much time it would take for Iran to reach that point. "The hope is that as long as such countries remain in the NPT (Non-Proliferation Treaty) with IAEA inspectors keeping watch, the likelihood is slim [they] would risk international isolation if they quit the treaty," he went on. Speaking of the different options available for dealing with the Iranian nuclear threat, ElBaradei asserted that the only way to solve the issue was if the US was to negotiate directly with Iran. "The Iranian issue at its heart is really a question of security...The nuclear [part] is a symptom of an underlying sense of insecurity or a desire to be recognized as a major, regional power," ElBaradei told the German paper. "Europe is not really in the front seat [here]. It is the US who is in the front seat. The earlier that you have a direct negotiation between the US and Iran, the earlier the prospect that we will have a solution," he added. Any arrangement, according to the IAEA director, would need to look at security issues in the entire region, including the Israel-Palestinian conflict, and what he called the "elephant in the room" - Israel's unconfirmed nuclear weapons. "A military solution ... will give [the Iranian] regime the full [domestic] support, the full justification to go for a crash course to develop nuclear weapons. The know-how is there, you cannot take it out of their minds." "They will simply, in my view, go underground. The region is already in an unsustainable situation and adding an attack will simply create a ball of fire which will ricochet everywhere, in every part of the world," he continued. The IAEA chief said the issue should be addressed as part of discussions about Middle East security. The United States and its allies allege Iran wants to develop its uranium enrichment program to make nuclear weapons. But oil-rich Iran insists it only wants to make nuclear fuel, and IAEA oversight and inspections of its known enrichment program have not come up with any evidence that contradicts that. Israel also says the Islamic Republic could have enough nuclear material to make its first bomb within a year. The US estimates Teheran is at least two years away from that stage. But some analysts have suggested Iran may be closer. David Albright - whose Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security tracks suspect secret proliferators - said Teheran could reach weapons capacity in as little as six months through uranium enrichment. A recent IAEA report said Teheran had increased the number of centrifuges used to process uranium to nearly 4,000, from 3,000 just a few months ago. In related news, Russia and the United States have agreed to seek a new UN resolution calling on Iran to comply with previous demands to suspend uranium enrichment but imposing no new sanctions, UN diplomats said Friday. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said the brief resolution will affirm the three previous ones, which imposed progressively tougher sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt its enrichment program and urged Teheran to comply. The new resolution has the agreement of ministers from the six key players in negotiations on Iran's nuclear program - Russia, the US, Britain, France, China and Germany, Miliband said. It will be introduced at a Security Council meeting Friday and could be put to a vote as early as Saturday if the 10 non-permanent council members agree, Russia's UN Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said. The United States, Britain and France have been pressing for a new round of sanctions to step up pressure against Iran for its continuing refusal to suspend uranium enrichment as a prelude to talks on its nuclear program. But Russia and China objected to new sanctions. The proposed new resolution is a compromise - no new sanctions but a tough statement to Iran that Security Council resolutions are legally binding and must be carried out. Russia on Tuesday scuttled high-level talks on imposing new sanctions on Iran that had been set for Thursday between the foreign ministers of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council and Germany. Even sanctions opponent China had agreed to the meeting. US officials, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, sought to downplay the move, saying the time was not right for the session. But they had previously said such a gathering would be useful and necessary to get a fourth Security Council sanctions resolution on Iran. "This is a resolution in the absence of the sanctions resolution," Churkin said. "No new sanctions have been discussed. No new sanctions have been agreed." But Churkin said "there were some concerns" that the group of six countries was not functioning. "So in order to dispel those concerns ... the ministers have decided to introduce this very brief draft resolution which would reconfirm the previous decisions of the Security Council," he said. The draft resolution, he said, reflects "our unity of purpose as far as the problem of Iranian nuclear program is concerned." Iran insists its nuclear program is purely peaceful and designed to produce nuclear energy, but the US and Europeans suspect Teheran is pursuing nuclear weapons. ElBaradei warned on Monday that he could not determine whether Iran is hiding some nuclear activities, comments that appeared to reflect a high level of frustration with stonewalling of his investigators by the Iranians. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Thursday that Teheran needs the ability to produce nuclear fuel because it cannot rely on other nations to supply enriched uranium to the Islamic regime's planned reactors. Miliband said the new resolution would reaffirm the six countries' determination to continue pursuing their twin-track strategy - offering a package of benefits to Iran if it suspends enrichment and pursuing sanctions if it refuses. "We look forward to that resolution being passed, and we also look forward to full engagement by the government of Iran with the very significant offer that is on the table to them," he said. The new resolution, he said, will "affirm our unity ... rally international support, and ... show our determination to ensure that the international rules are upheld in this very important area," Miliband said.