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United States Tapped Calls Between ElBaradei and Iranian Officials, U.S. Officials Say
The Bush administration has been monitoring telephone conversations between International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei and Iranian officials in hopes of finding information to derail ElBaradei’s efforts to serve a third term as head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the Washington Post reported yesterday (see GSN, Nov. 1). The intercepted conversations have shown no signs of wrongdoing by ElBaradei, according to three U.S. officials. “Some people think he sounds way too soft on the Iranians, but that’s about it,” one official said. Agency officials said they were not surprised ElBaradei’s calls were being monitored, the Post reported. “We’ve always assumed that this kind of thing goes on,” agency spokesman Mark Gwozdecky said. “We wish it were otherwise, but we know the reality.” While the Bush administration opposes ElBaradei’s quest for a third term as director general, it has yet to put forward a viable replacement, according to the Post. The State Department has examined several candidates, with the top choice being Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer. However, Downer has not shown interest in seeking the position, according to the Post. “Our original strategy was to get Alex Downer to throw his hat in the ring, but we couldn’t,” one U.S. policy-maker said. “Anyone in politics will tell you that you can’t beat somebody with nobody, but we’re going to try to disprove that.” Slightly more than one-third of the IAEA’s Board of Governors would have to vote against ElBaradei’s reappointment to stop him from serving a third term beginning in summer 2005. Many nations on the board have asked him to stay on, according to the Post (Dafna Linzer, Washington Post, Dec. 12). Australian Defense Minister Robert Hill said today that Sydney had confidence in ElBaradei, according to Agence France-Presse. Hill also said he would like to see Downer remain in the Australian government. “He’s doing an excellent job as foreign minister so I’d like him to stay as foreign minister,” Hill said (Agence France-Presse/SpaceWar.com, Dec. 13).
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