Reuters: A key report by U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Iran’s cooperation with U.N. Security Council demands that it suspend uranium enrichment will have to be negative, the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA said on Tuesday.
By Louis Charbonneau
BERLIN, April 25 (Reuters) – A key report by U.N. nuclear chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Iran’s cooperation with U.N. Security Council demands that it suspend uranium enrichment will have to be negative, the U.S. ambassador to the IAEA said on Tuesday.
“This report that is due on Friday is meant to cover Iran’s compliance with the demands of the (IAEA) board of governors and the Security Council,” U.S. ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Gregory Schulte told Reuters.
“Given the announcement they made two weeks ago (about enriching uranium) and given the apparent failure to cooperate further with the IAEA, we can only expect a negative report,” he said.
ElBaradei’s report is due to reach the Security Council and the IAEA’s 35-nation board of governors by Friday.
Schulte also said he criticised Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for what he said was a confrontational approach that “is driving Iran deeper into isolation and is putting Iran at the risk of sanctions.”
He also said that Ahmadinejad’s veiled threat to withdraw from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) proved that Tehran wants nuclear weapons. “I think the clear message from this veiled threat is that their programme is not a peaceful programme. If this programme was a peaceful one, why would they be threatening to pull out of the non-proliferation treaty?” Schulte said.
Iran insists its nuclear programme is peaceful and aimed solely at generating electricity.
He also said Ahmadinejad’s recent comments that Iran was researching and testing advanced P-2 enrichment centrifuges to replace its earlier generation P-1 centrifuges had fuelled fears that Iran may have hidden more activities from U.N. inspectors.
“This … raises additional questions about whether they (Iran) have further violated their safeguards obligations by conducting undeclared activities,” he said.
He also reiterated that the United States was not preparing to attack Iran.
“Our goal is a peaceful settlement and that’s why we’re working so hard with the European Union, with the Security Council, to achieve this,” Schulte said.
