For some time ElBaradei has been simply used as an instrument of US policy. The EU for the most part goes along with the US in a similar strong anti-Iran stance that makes it difficult for ElBaradei to maintain an objective position. Any reports by El Baradei have been cherry-picked to emphasize the negative and ignore the positives. This must be frustrating to someone just trying to be as objective as they can.
Nuclear chief walks out on EU speech on IranArticle from: Agence France-PresseFont size: Decrease Increase Email article: Email Print article: Print From correspondents in Vienna
September 12, 2007 05:31am
UN nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei walked out on an afternoon session of his IAEA to protest an EU speech which did not fully support his deal for new inspections in Iran, diplomats said.
"He walked out because the EU did not support the Secretariat," a diplomat who was at the meeting of the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board of governors said.
"The Europeans gave a nasty statement and the director general (ElBaradei) walked out of the room," a second diplomat said, demanding anonymity in return for revealing information about the closed-door session.
But a senior European diplomat said the EU supported Mr ElBaradei and had only reiterated the IAEA chief's view that the timetable needs "Iran's full and active cooperation".
IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming declined comment but several diplomats confirmed that Mr ElBaradei had walked out in protest.
Mr ElBaradei has been under pressure as the United States and other Western countries warn that a timetable for new inspections in Iran agreed by the IAEA and Tehran last month gives the Islamic republic room to delay new UN sanctions.
They also warn that it gives Iran time to continue improving its work on enriching uranium, which makes power reactor fuel but also atom bomb material.
Still, the US and Mr ElBaradei had closed ranks yesterday, the first day of a regular meeting of the IAEA board, in urging Iran to meet the timetable and also to do more to show the world it does not seek the bomb, such as suspending uranium enrichment.
At issue is how to win guarantees that Iran's nuclear work is peaceful, with US patience wearing thin as it presses for more UN sanctions but Mr ElBaradei urging more inspections that could lead to talks on ending the crisis.
The European Union speech, given by Portuguese ambassador Joaquim Duarte as Portugal is the current EU president, came when the agenda item on safeguards in Iran came up.
Mr Duarte hammered Iran for failing to suspend uranium enrichment "contrary to the decisions of the (UN) Security Council", referring to three UN Security Council resolutions and two rounds of UN sanctions.
He said that since Mr ElBaradei's last report in May "Iran has further increased its enrichment capacities".
The speech only mentioned briefly the timetable the IAEA worked hard to get and did not give it the diplomatic backing Mr ElBaradei expected.
The timetable, in a report Mr ElBaradei submitted to the board yesterday, is to resolve outstanding questions in the agency's over four-year-old investigation of Iran on US charges that Tehran is using a civilian energy program to hide the development of nuclear weapons.
The speech focused on Iran's lack of cooperation, including its refusal to provide early design information on new nuclear facilities and called repeatedly on Iran to suspend uranium enrichment.
After walking out, Mr ElBaradei stayed away until the session was adjourned at its regular time until Thursday. The Portuguese speech was followed by speeches from Canada and Norway.
Just before the Portuguese speech, Mr ElBaradei had received a rousing statement of support from the non-aligned movement, in a speech by Cuban ambassador Norma Miguelina Goicochea Estenoz as NAM leader.
She said "NAM shares the view that this work plan (timetable) is a 'significant step forward'" and "reiterates its full confidence in the impartiality and professionalism of the Secretariat of the IAEA and its Director General, Dr Mohamed ElBaradei".
A diplomat said Mr ElBaradei had expected the same personal tone of appreciation in the EU speech and took the lack of it as a rebuff to his sustained diplomatic efforts.
Showing posts with label ElBaradei IAEA. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ElBaradei IAEA. Show all posts
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Iranian Nuclear Pledges Complicate Bush UN strategy.
Note that the situation is a bit similar to Iraq where the US was unwilling to wait for inspectors to determine if Iraq had WMD. Here the US may be unwilling to wait to see if Iran answers satisfactorily remaining questions about its nuclear program. The US is never embarassed by going against the UN or the IAEA. No one seems to notice that the US has been in violation against is obligations under international nuclear treaties for years.
Iranian Nuclear Pledges Complicate President Bush's U.N. Strategy
By Thomas Omestad
Posted September 5, 2007
As diplomats prepare for meetings at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna next week, new pledges by Iran to answer unresolved questions about its once clandestine nuclear program are complicating the Bush administration's strategy of ratcheting up pressure on Tehran.
U.S. diplomats have seized on the confirmation provided by an IAEA report finalized last week that Iran is continuing to enrich uranium and to build what would be a plutonium-making heavy-water reactor—in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions, as well as those of the IAEA's own board. However, the same report declared that Iran had made "a significant step forward" by agreeing to a work plan for addressing remaining issues about its nuclear facilities and capabilities. IAEA officials suggest that if Iran carries out its promises, outstanding questions could be answered by the end of this year.
Iran welcomed the report, contending that it showed U.S. accusations that it is pursuing nuclear weapons were groundless.
That reaction was perhaps predictable. More worrying for the administration, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, in interviews with the New York Times and the German weekly Der Spiegel, hailed the Iranian agreement as unprecedented and worthy of giving Iran the limited time it prescribes to show its peaceful intentions. He sounded a loud note of skepticism about President Bush's current approach: gathering support for a third, tougher round of U.N. sanctions.
Not surprisingly, administration officials poured doubt on the newly proffered cooperation from Tehran. "For the most part, Iran has made only promises," said Gregory Schulte, the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA. In Washington, officials insisted the centerpiece of the report was that it verified that Iran's defiance was continuing.
But the administration has good reason to be concerned. With many countries questioning the quality of U.S. intelligence on weapons of mass destruction, the administration has used the periodic IAEA reports on Iran as key sources of documentation for raising global concern about Iranian nuclear intentions.
And with Russia and China still devoted skeptics of employing sanctions against Iran, the report, coupled with ElBaradei's pleas for patience, could well blunt any rapid moves at the Security Council for further sanctions.
It isn't the first time the Bush administration has fumed over ElBaradei's actions. Before the Iraq war, he concluded that he had no evidence to back the U.S. claim that Iraq had reconstituted its nuclear weapons program. (ElBaradei's conclusion was subsequently borne out by postwar investigation.) The administration initially opposed his renomination as director general of the IAEA, then relented.
Opponents of a quick resort to more penalties against Iran are also likely to focus on the report's finding that the rate at which Iran is adding cascades of centrifuges—the linked machines that concentrate uranium either to the lower levels needed for nuclear power plants or to higher levels for bombs—has slowed in recent months. With some 2,000 centrifuges running as of August 19, the number recently in operation has failed to meet the expectations of western analysts.
The slower rate of growth, according to a report by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, may reflect problems in mastering the task of running cascades in parallel. But Iran may also be playing politics, probing whether particular gestures can ease tensions that have been building up over its program.
Some western diplomats grudgingly agree with the judgment of ISIS: "Iran's leadership may have decided to slow work to overcome technical problems in order to forestall negative reactions that would lend support for further sanctions by the U.N. Security Council, Europe, or Japan."
From the Bush administration's standpoint, next week's discussions in Vienna are not likely to resolve much of anything.
Iranian Nuclear Pledges Complicate President Bush's U.N. Strategy
By Thomas Omestad
Posted September 5, 2007
As diplomats prepare for meetings at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna next week, new pledges by Iran to answer unresolved questions about its once clandestine nuclear program are complicating the Bush administration's strategy of ratcheting up pressure on Tehran.
U.S. diplomats have seized on the confirmation provided by an IAEA report finalized last week that Iran is continuing to enrich uranium and to build what would be a plutonium-making heavy-water reactor—in defiance of United Nations Security Council resolutions, as well as those of the IAEA's own board. However, the same report declared that Iran had made "a significant step forward" by agreeing to a work plan for addressing remaining issues about its nuclear facilities and capabilities. IAEA officials suggest that if Iran carries out its promises, outstanding questions could be answered by the end of this year.
Iran welcomed the report, contending that it showed U.S. accusations that it is pursuing nuclear weapons were groundless.
That reaction was perhaps predictable. More worrying for the administration, IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei, in interviews with the New York Times and the German weekly Der Spiegel, hailed the Iranian agreement as unprecedented and worthy of giving Iran the limited time it prescribes to show its peaceful intentions. He sounded a loud note of skepticism about President Bush's current approach: gathering support for a third, tougher round of U.N. sanctions.
Not surprisingly, administration officials poured doubt on the newly proffered cooperation from Tehran. "For the most part, Iran has made only promises," said Gregory Schulte, the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA. In Washington, officials insisted the centerpiece of the report was that it verified that Iran's defiance was continuing.
But the administration has good reason to be concerned. With many countries questioning the quality of U.S. intelligence on weapons of mass destruction, the administration has used the periodic IAEA reports on Iran as key sources of documentation for raising global concern about Iranian nuclear intentions.
And with Russia and China still devoted skeptics of employing sanctions against Iran, the report, coupled with ElBaradei's pleas for patience, could well blunt any rapid moves at the Security Council for further sanctions.
It isn't the first time the Bush administration has fumed over ElBaradei's actions. Before the Iraq war, he concluded that he had no evidence to back the U.S. claim that Iraq had reconstituted its nuclear weapons program. (ElBaradei's conclusion was subsequently borne out by postwar investigation.) The administration initially opposed his renomination as director general of the IAEA, then relented.
Opponents of a quick resort to more penalties against Iran are also likely to focus on the report's finding that the rate at which Iran is adding cascades of centrifuges—the linked machines that concentrate uranium either to the lower levels needed for nuclear power plants or to higher levels for bombs—has slowed in recent months. With some 2,000 centrifuges running as of August 19, the number recently in operation has failed to meet the expectations of western analysts.
The slower rate of growth, according to a report by the Washington-based Institute for Science and International Security, may reflect problems in mastering the task of running cascades in parallel. But Iran may also be playing politics, probing whether particular gestures can ease tensions that have been building up over its program.
Some western diplomats grudgingly agree with the judgment of ISIS: "Iran's leadership may have decided to slow work to overcome technical problems in order to forestall negative reactions that would lend support for further sanctions by the U.N. Security Council, Europe, or Japan."
From the Bush administration's standpoint, next week's discussions in Vienna are not likely to resolve much of anything.
Friday, January 26, 2007
Attack on Iran would be 'catastrophic' IAEA head claims
As is noted talk about an attack may encourage those who say nuclear bomb development is the only way to defend Iran against Israel and the US.
If a US attack were nuclear this would even up the ante. The US no longer regards nuclear weapons as purely defensive nor will it commit itself not to using them against non-nuclear powers. Therefore if you are a non-nuclear power you can still expect an attack. You might as well go nuclear as has Pakistan, India, and of course Israel, although somehow I doubt Israel expects an attack by the US!
Attack on Iran would be 'catastrophic', IAEA says
2:15PM Friday January 26, 2007
By Stella Dawson
DAVOS, Switzerland - An attack on Iran would be catastrophic and
encourage it to develop a nuclear bomb, Mohamed ElBaradei, director
general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Thursday.
"It would be absolutely counterproductive, and it would be
catastrophic," ElBaradei said at a discussion on nuclear proliferation
at the World Economic Forum.
The Bush administration in recent weeks has toughened its stance
against Iran, which the West has accused of seeking to secretly build
an atomic bomb, raising fears among political and business leaders
that the US plans an attack.
President George W. Bush has moved an additional aircraft carrier into
the Gulf and told Iran that he would not allow it to provide weapons
and support to insurgents in Iraq.
Israel has refused to rule out pre-emptive military action against
Iran on the lines of its 1981 air strike against an atomic reactor in
Iraq, although many analysts believe Iran's nuclear facilities are too
much for Israel to destroy alone.
The United Nations imposed sanctions in December to prevent Iran using
its nuclear energy programme for military weapons, and Iran this week
banned 38 IAEA nuclear inspectors.
ElBaradei, head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, has been engaged in
meetings here at the gathering of world political and business
leaders. He said diplomacy is the only way forward, and talk of
military action can only backfire.
"This strengthens the hands of those in Iran who say 'let's develop a
bomb to protect ourselves," he said.
The Bush administration has said it wants a diplomatic solution and
that it is not preparing to attack either Iran or Syria.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also warned against an attack,
while Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami urged calm to reduce
tensions over Iran's nuclear programme.
"If there is military action, it will have catastrophic results, not
only in the region, but the whole world," Aziz said.
"I hope they would be good enough in managing the situation. We deeply
need patience and understanding and not to get too emotional," Khatami
said.
ElBaradei said force should not be ruled out, but past experience has
shown that it should not be used with haste, citing Iraq where no
evidence of nuclear weapons was found after the US-led invasion.
"I am convinced that the only way forward in Iran is engagement,"
ElBaradei said. "We have to invest in peace," he said, adding that if
the international community failed to do that "the consequence will be
10 times worse."
"I hope we will stop speaking about a military option and focus on
finding a solution," ElBaradei said.
Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity but the West
fears it is secretly seeking an atom bomb. In December, the United
Nations imposed sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear
materials and technology to try and stop enrichment work that could
produce bomb material.
--
If a US attack were nuclear this would even up the ante. The US no longer regards nuclear weapons as purely defensive nor will it commit itself not to using them against non-nuclear powers. Therefore if you are a non-nuclear power you can still expect an attack. You might as well go nuclear as has Pakistan, India, and of course Israel, although somehow I doubt Israel expects an attack by the US!
Attack on Iran would be 'catastrophic', IAEA says
2:15PM Friday January 26, 2007
By Stella Dawson
DAVOS, Switzerland - An attack on Iran would be catastrophic and
encourage it to develop a nuclear bomb, Mohamed ElBaradei, director
general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said on Thursday.
"It would be absolutely counterproductive, and it would be
catastrophic," ElBaradei said at a discussion on nuclear proliferation
at the World Economic Forum.
The Bush administration in recent weeks has toughened its stance
against Iran, which the West has accused of seeking to secretly build
an atomic bomb, raising fears among political and business leaders
that the US plans an attack.
President George W. Bush has moved an additional aircraft carrier into
the Gulf and told Iran that he would not allow it to provide weapons
and support to insurgents in Iraq.
Israel has refused to rule out pre-emptive military action against
Iran on the lines of its 1981 air strike against an atomic reactor in
Iraq, although many analysts believe Iran's nuclear facilities are too
much for Israel to destroy alone.
The United Nations imposed sanctions in December to prevent Iran using
its nuclear energy programme for military weapons, and Iran this week
banned 38 IAEA nuclear inspectors.
ElBaradei, head of the UN's nuclear watchdog, has been engaged in
meetings here at the gathering of world political and business
leaders. He said diplomacy is the only way forward, and talk of
military action can only backfire.
"This strengthens the hands of those in Iran who say 'let's develop a
bomb to protect ourselves," he said.
The Bush administration has said it wants a diplomatic solution and
that it is not preparing to attack either Iran or Syria.
Pakistan's Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz also warned against an attack,
while Iran's former president Mohammad Khatami urged calm to reduce
tensions over Iran's nuclear programme.
"If there is military action, it will have catastrophic results, not
only in the region, but the whole world," Aziz said.
"I hope they would be good enough in managing the situation. We deeply
need patience and understanding and not to get too emotional," Khatami
said.
ElBaradei said force should not be ruled out, but past experience has
shown that it should not be used with haste, citing Iraq where no
evidence of nuclear weapons was found after the US-led invasion.
"I am convinced that the only way forward in Iran is engagement,"
ElBaradei said. "We have to invest in peace," he said, adding that if
the international community failed to do that "the consequence will be
10 times worse."
"I hope we will stop speaking about a military option and focus on
finding a solution," ElBaradei said.
Iran says it needs nuclear power to generate electricity but the West
fears it is secretly seeking an atom bomb. In December, the United
Nations imposed sanctions on Iran's trade in sensitive nuclear
materials and technology to try and stop enrichment work that could
produce bomb material.
--
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