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Iran Tests World’s Patience, ElBaradei Says
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said the world is losing patience with the ongoing effort to resolve the crisis surrounding Iran’s nuclear program, Reuters reported today (see GSN, Dec. 6). “This window (for finding a solution) is not present forever. The international community has begun to lose its patience with Iran,” ElBaradei told the Arabic daily Al-Hayat. “The international community is fearful of Iran acquiring the process of enriching uranium, because if a state obtains the ability to enrich uranium it is not far from the capability to produce nuclear weapons,” he said (Reuters, Dec. 7). ElBaradei yesterday reaffirmed support for a Russian compromise proposal, the Financial Times reported. ElBaradei said the proposal, in which Moscow would oversee enrichment of uranium for Iran in Russia, would solve Tehran’s need for nuclear fuel. “I think it’s a good proposal,” ElBaradei said during an address in London. “It’s a good starting point.” European diplomats, who are preparing to resume nuclear negotiations with Iran, said a rejection of the deal would be likely to strengthen international opposition to Iran’s nuclear activities. ElBaradei said it could take agency inspectors until the end of 2006 to fully determine Iran’s nuclear capabilities. “Most of the pieces of the puzzle are there, but there still are big pieces missing,” he said. “If you want to clear your past, you have to be as transparent as possible” (Peter Spiegel, Financial Times, Dec. 7). Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday that the U.N. agency is the correct venue for dealing with the situation, the Associated Press reported. “We believe that the IAEA potential in settling all problems related to the Iranian nuclear dossier is far from being exhausted,” Putin said. He said Tehran should “observe their obligations, including those they have taken unilaterally” (Associated Press/ABCNews.com, Dec. 6). ElBaradei yesterday also said his agency needs adequate funding in order to conduct effective verification, AP reported. “IAEA verification today operates on an annual budget of about $120 million — a budget comparable to that of the Chelsea football (soccer) club” in England, he said (Thomas Wagner, Associated Press/Yahoo!News, Dec. 6).
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