The New Media Journal | IAEA Chief: Iran Probe at 'Dead End'

The New Media Journal | IAEA Chief: Iran Probe at 'Dead End': "International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday that his probe of allegations that Iran was trying to produce nuclear arms is at 'a dead end' because Teheran is not cooperating.

ElBaradei criticized Teheran for not accepting an internationally endorsed plan meant to delay its ability to make such weapons. Confidence in Iran's leaders, he warned, had shrunk in the wake of its belated revelation of a previously secret nuclear facility.

The unusually blunt comments appeared to be a reflection of ElBaradei's frustration four days before he ends his tenure leading an agency that has proven unable to overcome Iran's defiance.

It has also failed to alleviate international concerns that Teheran may be using a civilian nuclear program as a cover for plans to make weapons.

'There has been no movement on remaining issues of concern which need to be clarified for the agency to verify the exclusively peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program,' ElBaradei told the opening session of the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors. 'We have effectively reached a dead end, unless Iran engages fully with us.'

'Issues of concern' is the IAEA term for intelligence and other information available to the agency indicating that Teheran has dabbled in military nuclear development, including missile-delivery systems and tests of explosives that could serve as atom-bomb detonators.

Since revelations of a secret Iranian nuclear program surfaced eight years ago, much of ElBaradei's energy has been spent on trying to nudge Teheran to meet international demands that it freeze uranium enrichment and cooperate on other issues meant to ease suspicion of its nuclear aims.

Iran started stonewalling the agency over a year ago over the 'issues of concern,' saying there was nothing to investigate because the allegations were false.

ElBaradei has emphasized the need for talks instead of threats in engaging Iran. He has criticized the US for invading Iraq on the pretext that Saddam Hussein had a nuclear weapons program, which has never been proven. That - and perceived softness on the Iran issue - has drawn criticism from the US and its allies that he was overstepping his mandate.

But ElBaradei's comments Thursday left little doubt that - just days before his departure - he was most unhappy with Iran...

Impatience with Iran has been fueled by Teheran's September revelation that it had secretly been building a new enrichment facility...

A perusal of agency records shows that Teheran's chief envoy to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told its board last year that his country 'has repeatedly declared that there is no undeclared nuclear material and activity in Iran' - at a time when construction of the secret nuclear facility was in full force."