Iran's peaceful nuclear claims in doubt - ElBaradei

Reuters:

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency is preparing to tell the world he cannot yet confirm the peaceful nature of Iran's atomic program, according to an interview released on Sunday.

Mohamed ElBaradei, who won the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize along with his International Atomic Energy Agency, said Tehran "might not seem to care, but if I say that I am not able to confirm the peaceful nature of that program after three years of intensive work, well, that's a conclusion that's going to reverberate ... around the world."

In the interview with Newsweek magazine, ElBaradei said Iran knows what it must do to satisfy his concerns and he will not extend the deadline for his next report on the nuclear program beyond a March 6 deadline. READ MORE

"For the last three years we have been doing intensive verification in Iran and even after three years, I am not yet in a position to make a judgment on the peaceful nature of the program," he said.

"We still need to assure ourselves through access to documents, individuals [and] locations that we have seen all that we ought to see and that there is nothing fishy, if you like, about the program," he added.

Asked if Iran was buying time to build a bomb, ElBaradei replied: "That's why I said we are coming to the litmus test in the next few weeks."

ElBaradei said he does not exclude the possibility that Iran may have another more secret nuclear weapons program that is separate from the activities the IAEA knows about.

"And if they have the nuclear material and they have a parallel weaponization program along the way, they are really not very far -- a few months -- from a weapon," he said.

DIPLOMACY ONLY -- IRAN

A growing nuclear dispute exploded last week when Iran, defying the United States and major European powers, resumed nuclear research after a two-year moratorium.

Iran, the world's fourth-biggest oil exporter, says it aims only to make power for an energy-needy economy, not build atom bombs. But it hid nuclear work from the IAEA for almost 20 years before exiled dissidents exposed it in 2002.

In previous reports to the IAEA board, ElBaradei said he had no proof Iran was engaged in weapons-related work.

On Sunday, Iran said only diplomacy, not threats to refer it to the U.N. Security Council, could defuse the nuclear standoff and warned that any Western push for sanctions could escalate world oil prices.

The Security Council's five permanent members and Germany planned talks in London on Monday on a common strategy to tackle the controversy.

ElBaradei said that despite comments by U.S. and European leaders, nobody wants to take Iran to the Security Council. If they do, there will be a "graduated approach" towards sanctions with Iran the biggest loser, he said.

He also warned that Tehran's threat to expel IAEA inspectors from the country could backfire because without international monitors to assure the world there is no immediate danger from Iran's activities, "people can have as wild an imagination as they want and that will hurt Iran."

U.S. officials have said military action is an option to deal with Iran's nuclear ambitions, although the focus has been heavily on diplomatic alternatives.

On Sunday, Republican and Democratic senators said the United States may ultimately have to undertake a military strike to deter Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons, but that should be the last resort.

Even ElBaradei, often viewed as reluctant to have a confrontation with Iran, said: "Diplomacy has to be backed by pressure and, in extreme cases, by force. ... We have to do everything to uphold the rules by conviction. If not, then you impose them."