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IAEA chief urges talks on Iran nuke plans
The chief U.N. nuclear inspector on Monday urged an end to the confrontation over Iran's atomic program and suggested that dialogue should take precedence over U.S. and European threats to send Tehran to the U.N. Security Council, the Associated Press reported.
International Atomic Energy Agency head Mohamed ElBaradei, speaking as the board of his agency began a key meeting, appeared exasperated at the standoff. "I think we regrettably ... are going though a period of confrontations and political brinkmanship," he said, indirectly chiding both Tehran's nuclear intransigence and the possibility of a U.S.- and European-initiated vote at the board meeting on referring Iran to the Security Council. "I very much hope that this week all the parties should work together to create the necessary conditions to go back to the negotiating table," he said. U.S.-European options appeared to hinge on a meeting later Monday in New York of G-8 foreign ministers. European officials and diplomats said senior officials of the United States, Britain, France and Germany would gauge the support for referral during a meeting with the other G-8 countries — Russia, Japan, Italy and Canada. That meant the Europeans and Americans had at most another day to decide whether to introduce a resolution asking the 35 board members to request the Security Council to examine Iran. Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hamid Reza Asefi warned against such action. He said Iran was not yet contemplating uranium enrichment — which can produce either fuel or nuclear weapons grade material — but may change its mind "if the IAEA meeting on Monday leads to radical results." Although the three leading European nations that initially opposed referral now support it, at least two powerful allies of Iran are against the plan — Russia and China, both permanent members of the Security Council. Russian President Vladimir Putin refused to be pinned down. "Today, the Iranian side is working sufficiently in cooperation with (the) IAEA ... so let's proceed from the circumstances of today," Putin told Fox News Sunday, suggesting he was leaning toward opposing Security Council involvement. Still, he added that Moscow stands ready "to coordinate our activities, both with American and European partners, and I must say that our positions here are quite close." Diplomats accredited to the IAEA, meanwhile, suggested Iran may have another card up its sleeve. The diplomats told The Associated Press that Tehran may announce that it is ready to grant agency experts access to high-ranking military officials or military sites. The agency has been trying to determine if gaps in Iranian reporting on more than 18 years of clandestine nuclear activity first revealed three years ago are attempts to cover up military involvement in what Iran insists is a purely civilian program meant to generate power. Establishing such involvement would bolster arguments by the United States and its allies that Iran's program is a cover for weapons making. The IAEA has been rebuffed in attempts to revisit Parchin, the site of alleged experiments linked to nuclear weapons and to inspect Lavizan-Shian, the possible site for equipment that can be used both for peaceful and nuclear weapons-related purposes. Additionally, the agency has been denied permission to interview senior officials linked to the military. With the board already divided, any new concessions by Iran could increase the number of countries opposed and leave the Europeans and the Americans in the minority, said the diplomats. They, like the European officials, demanded anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. ElBaradei on Monday again urged Iran to meet his agency's requests to meet with individuals and review documents. Washington and the European Union started jointly lobbying for Security Council referral last month after Iran effectively walked away from talks with Germany, Britain and France and resumed uranium conversion, a precursor to uranium enrichment.
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