United Nations nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei said on Monday both he and the international community are ”losing patience” with Iran’s lack of transparency about its controversial nuclear programme.
Tehran announced on Monday it is on the verge of resuming nuclear fuel research, ending a two-year suspension and drawing fresh concern from the European Union, among others, about the exact nature of the programme.
Western governments who have been trying to negotiate with Tehran fear the Islamic Republic could be using uranium enrichment for developing nuclear weapons.
ElBaradei told Sky News television’s World News Tonight in an interview — recorded before Iran’s announcement but to be broadcast at 8pm GMT on Monday — that he still needs clarification about Tehran’s actions.
”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 cooperation,” he told the programme, a transcript of which Agence France-Presse has seen.
”[There are a] number of important issues that has to do with [centrifuges and] the nature of the programme and I cannot continue to say at every board meeting that I still need more time; we have been doing that for three years …
”I am running out of patience, the international community is running out of patience, the credibility of the verification process is at stake and I’d like come March, which is my next report, to be able to clarify these issues.”
ElBaradei told presenter James Rubin, a former United States State Department official, that Iran, Europe, the US and the whole international community need to ”stretch a hand to each other” to resolve the issue.
Washington, which accuses Iran of trying to build nuclear weapons, has said any resumption of research into the fuel cycle might spur it to seek Iran’s referral to the UN Security Council for enforcement action.
But supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei insisted Iran will not give up its nuclear programme.
”The Islamic Republic of Iran will not give up its inalienable rights to peaceful nuclear technology, which has been achieved by the talented youth of the country,” he said. — Sapa-AFP