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ElBaradei: Iranian nuclear threat exaggerated

ElBaradei: Iranian nuclear threat hyped By JPOST.COM STAFF Oct 18, 2009Mohamed ElBaradei, outgoing chief of the International Atomic Energy Agency, maintains that the danger posed by Iran’s nuclear program is being exaggerated, and that the only way to resolve issues with Teheran is through talks. Negotiations should also eventually lead to the Middle East being a nuclear-free zone, he believes, thus ending the “imbalance” resulting from the fact that Israel is not a signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
“The threat in Iran’s nuclear program is exaggerated. I do not think that we will wake up tomorrow and discover that Iran has a nuclear weapon,” he said in an interview with the Austrian Die Presse published on Sunday.

“[US] President Barack Obama has understood that negotiation is the only possible solution with Iran… Iran wants to discuss not only the nuclear issue, but also the entire palette of problems with the US. Iran can play an important, central role in the Near East; in Afghanistan or also in Iraq,” the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize laureate continued.

The greatest danger in the region, according to ElBaradei, comes from the possibility of an Israeli air strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

ElBaradei: Iranian nuclear threat exaggerated | Iranian – Iran News | Jerusalem Post

October 19, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1, Iran, weapons and war | antinuclear, nuclear, nuclear weapons