“By November, or December at the latest, we should be able to state whether the Iranians are keeping their promises. If they don’t keep them, Tehran will have passed by an important chance, perhaps the last,” Mohamed ElBaradei, the International Atomic Energy Agency head, told weekly Der Spiegel.
However, the IAEA chief urged international players to “encourage” Iran to cooperate.
“Beside sanctions, there must also be encouragement,” he said, underlining that “sanctions alone will not bring any durable solution.”
But he added that there were “concrete grounds to suspect” Iran of developing a nuclear bomb.
Asked about the possible use of force against Tehran, ElBaradei said that might destroy a large part of Iran’s nuclear installations, but warned of the danger of an explosion of violence in the whole region.
“The already very deep oppositions between the Islamic world and the West would explode,” he said.
He added that such a move would also certainly reinforce support for an Iranian nuclear bomb.
Iran and the UN atomic energy agency on August 21 agreed on a timetable for Tehran to clarify outstanding concerns about its contested nuclear programme, amid Western threats of further UN sanctions.
The IAEA said Thursday that Iran’s decision to answer key questions about the programme was “a significant step forward,” in a development expected to help Tehran avoid new sanctions.
But the United States reiterated its insistence on Iran suspending uranium enrichment to win international confidence, and downplayed the IAEA claim of progress.
