Israel Calls Foul As Iran Tells World To Stop Countering Nuke Drive

NUKEWARS

Israel slams UN atomic agency chief anew over Iran
Israel on Monday accused the outgoing head of the UN nuclear weapons watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei of "dereliction of duty", claiming he deliberately withheld incriminating information on Iran's nuclear drive. ElBaradei "has been quite negligent in revealing all the difficulties that the monitors have in Iran and also in not exposing the full picture of the deception and acceleration of (its) illegal military nuclear activities," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity. "There is here a dereliction of duty against the mandate" of the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, he said. "His attitude has always been... quite duplicitous during his entire tenure." It marked the latest Israeli criticism of ElBaradei, who is to step down in December. The Jewish state has often accused him of being lax towards arch-enemy Iran and asked for him to be fired in 2007. Last week, the Haaretz newspaper quoted unnamed Israeli officials as saying the IAEA was refraining from publishing data obtained in recent months that indicated Iran was pursuing information about weaponisation efforts and a military nuclear programme. ElBaradei has said the UN watchdog does not have any evidence suggesting Iran is developing a nuclear weapons programme. But Haaretz cited officials as saying the new evidence was presented to the IAEA in a classified annex written by its inspectors and said to have been signed by the head of the inspection team in Iran. The document was not included in the final report, it said. British, French, German and US officials are pressuring ElBaradei to publish the information, the official said. Widely considered to be the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear armed power, Israel suspects Iran of trying to develop atomic weapons under the guise of a civilian nuclear programme, a charge Tehran denies.

by Staff Writers
Tehran (AFP) Aug 24, 2009
Iran told world powers on Monday they must stop working against its atomic drive and instead adopt a policy of interaction with the Islamic republic to resolve the nuclear crisis.

"It is the right time for the other parties to review their policy. Rather than countering Iran, they should interact with Iran," foreign ministry spokesman Hassan Ghashghavi told reporters.

World powers and Israel are at loggerheads with Iran over its nuclear programme which they suspect is aimed at making atomic weapons, a charge consistently denied by Tehran.

Ghashghavi also dismissed threats of additional sanctions on Iran if it fails to abide by international demands to halt uranium enrichment, a process which makes fuel for nuclear plants but can also be diverted to make the core of an atomic bomb.

"Past experience has shown that sanctions are futile. Sanctions will not prevent us from pursuing our legal rights," he said.

US President Barack Obama has given Iran until September to take up an offer by world powers of talks if it freezes uranium enrichment, or face harsher sanctions.

Iran has long insisted that it has a right to nuclear technology as it is a signatory to the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Ghashghavi's remarks come just days after reports that Iran has allowed inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to check on the nuclear reactor at Arak for the first time in a year.

Arak, with its nearly completed 40-megawatt heavy water reactor, is one of most sensitive nuclear sites in Iran, as it could produce plutonium, which Tehran says would be for medical research.

IAEA director Mohamed ElBaradei has persistently called for his agency's inspectors to be allowed back into Iran to continue their checks.

ElBaradei will publish his latest report on Iran next week and it will go before the agency's governors in September.

Israel has accused the IAEA of holding back incriminating evidence of what it says is Iran's drive to obtain nuclear weapons, according to an Israeli newspaper.

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NUKEWARS

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