ElBaradei: Iran has ‘every reason to be distrustful’ of the West

Tehran Times

BERLIN (Agencies) – The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency said on Friday that Iran has “every reason to be distrustful.”

The remarks by Mohamed ElBaradei came after Iran said that the West’s past behavior shows that there is no guarantee that if Iran sends its low-enriched uranium (LEU) abroad it will receive the 20 percent enriched uranium for the Tehran research reactor.

According to a deal drafted by the International Atomic Energy Agency, Iran would exchange some of its low-enriched uranium for 20 percent enriched uranium for the Tehran reactor, which produces radioisotopes for medical treatment.

Iranian lawmakers and other officials have said the first priority is to buy fuel for the reactor. They have also said Iran will only exchange its low-enriched uranium after it receives the 20 percent enriched uranium promised in the latest nuclear deal.

ElBaradei says Iran’s answer not final

On Wednesday Iran rejected the proposal to send the fuel abroad.

However, the IAEA chief said it was not a written response and he did not think it was Iran’s final position, Reuters reported.

He went on to say that he remains in touch with Iranian officials.

“I do not consider that I have received a final answer,” ElBaradei told a press conference in Berlin. “What I got is an oral response, basically saying we need to keep all the material in Iran until we get the fuel. That to me is an extreme case of distrust.”

Both the Western powers and Iran have let each other down in the past and Iran has “every reason to be distrustful,” ElBaradei said.

The IAEA director general said he is opposed to the imposition of more punitive sanctions if Tehran did finally reject the proposal.

“Are sanctions going to resolve the issue? I don’t think so. In my view sanctions are going to make things much worse,” he stated, adding that such a move would probably make Iran “more hawkish.”

“I would hate to see that we are moving back to sanctions. Sanctions at the end of the day, in most cases, hurt the vulnerable and the innocent,” AFP quoted the IAEA chief as saying.

ElBaradei said the plan, according to which Iran would send low-enriched uranium to Russia and France for conversion into fuel for the Tehran reactor, provides a rare opportunity to defuse tension between the West and Iran.

He urged Iran to accept the proposal to process its enriched uranium abroad before the end of 2009 and advised the Western powers not to impose further sanctions on Tehran.

“I would hope definitely that we’ll get an agreement before the end of the year,” he noted. “I believe frankly the ball is very much in the Iranian court. I hope they will not miss this unique but fleeting opportunity.”

ElBaradei, who retires on November 30 after 12 tough years in office, praised the role played by U.S. President Barack Obama in talks with Iran, saying he had initiated a “complete change of policy.”

Noting that under Obama the United States had taken a “creative and pragmatic” approach to resolving the impasse over Iran’s nuclear program, ElBaradei used the press conference to send a message directly to the Iranian leadership.

“You need to engage in creative diplomacy, you need to understand that this is the first time that you will have a genuine commitment from an American president to engage you fully, on the basis of respect, with no conditions.

“Don’t lose that opportunity,” he told Iran.

Source: www.tehrantimes.com

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