ElBaradei 'losing patience'

2006-01-09 22:18

Vienna - United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Monday that he was "losing patience" with Iran's lack of transparency about its controversial nuclear programme.

Tehran announced on Monday that it would resume nuclear fuel research, ending a two-year suspension and sparking international concern about the nature of the programme.

Western governments, which had been trying to negotiate with Tehran, feared the Islamic republic could be planning to use uranium enrichment to develop nuclear weapons.

Active co-operation

ElBaradei said he still needed clarification about Tehran's actions.

He said: "There are still a number of important issues, where I have not been able to make progress and I still need very much Iran's transparency and Iran's active co-operation.

"There are a number of important issues that have to do with centrifuges and the nature of the programme.

"I can't continue to say at every board meeting that I still need more time. We have been doing that for three years."

Verification process

He said: "I am running out of patience, the international community is running out of patience, the credibility of the verification process is at stake."

ElBaradei said Iran, Europe, the United States and the international community as a whole needed to "stretch a hand to each other" to resolve the issue.

Washington, which accused Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons, had said any resumption of research into the fuel cycle might spur it to seek Iran's referral to the UN security council.

Iran had been trying to draw a distinction between such research and actual production of enriched uranium, which could be used as fuel in civil reactors or, in highly enriched form, as the explosive core of an atom bomb.

Peaceful nuclear technology

Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said on Monday that the country had "inalienable rights to peaceful nuclear technology".

Diplomats in Vienna said the UN agency was still trying to discern Tehran's intentions.

A Western diplomat in Vienna said: "The agency is trying to find out what the heck is going on, whether they are going to use nuclear material or not."

An IAEA spokesperson said the agency had nothing new to report, adding: "We are still waiting for clarifications".

One European diplomat here said France, Germany and Britain, the European Union troika leading negotiations with Tehran, were still planning to meet their Iranian counterparts in Vienna as scheduled on January 18.

- AFP