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Iran Not Cooperating, but Israel undermining nuclear non-proliferation

IAEA Chief: Iran Not Cooperating By VOA News17 February 2009 The head of the United Nations’ nuclear agency says Iran is not helping resolve questions about any possible military aspect of its nuclear program.

IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency, Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said Tuesday in Paris that Tehran is not providing any access or clarification on the issue.  Western nations have accused Iran of working on nuclear programs in the past, as well as possibly continuing such efforts. The U.N. has placed Tehran under three sets of international sanctions for its nuclear work.

Iran says its nuclear program is, and always has been, for peaceful, civilian purposes and argues that it cooperates with the IAEA.

ElBaradei’s comments come one day after he said that Israel’s refusal to sign the nuclear weapons non-proliferation treaty is undermining the treaty’s legitimacy in Arab public opinion.

Writing in the International Herald Tribune newspaper Monday, the IAEI chief said that Israel is the only state in the Middle East known to have nuclear weapons.

Israel has never confirmed or denied that it has nuclear weapons.  But ElBaradei says Israel’s position creates a perceived double standard.

VOA News – IAEA Chief:  Iran Not Cooperating

February 18, 2009 Posted by | Iran, Israel, weapons and war | Leave a comment

U.S. intelligence reconfirms Iran has no nuclear arms program

U.S. intelligence reconfirms Iran has no nuclear arms program TEHRAN TIMES  February 14, 2009 WASHINGTON (Agencies) – U.S. intelligence reconfirms that Iran has no nuclear weapons program, the new U.S. intelligence director Dennis Blair said in an annual threat assessment to Congress on Thursday……………………………Asked about it at a Senate hearing, Blair acknowledged it was a difficult question to deal with in a public setting.

“I can say at this point that Iran is clearly developing all the components of a deliverable nuclear weapons program — fissionable material, nuclear weaponizing capability and the means to deliver it,” he said.

“Whether they take it all the way to nuclear weapons and become a nuclear power will depend a great deal on their own internal decisions,” AFP quoted him as saying.

The assessment comes at a time when the new U.S. administration and Tehran appear to be in a diplomatic dance over whether and how to engage in direct dialogue.

tehran times : U.S. intelligence reconfirms Iran has no nuclear arms program

February 14, 2009 Posted by | Iran, weapons and war | Leave a comment

The Associated Press: UN nuclear chief supports US-Iran talks

UN nuclear chief supports US-Iran talks
By EDITH M. LEDERER – 30 Jan 09 DAVOS, Switzerland (AP) — The U.N. nuclear chief said Thursday that Iran should fully disclose its nuclear programs at the same time that the U.S. starts a dialogue with Tehran without preconditions. Iran’s foreign minister said that President Obama must declare how his policies would differ from those of former President Bush.The maneuvering over a possible U.S.-Iranian dialogue came as Mohamed ElBaradei welcomed Obama’s statements that the new U.S. administration was willing to talk to Iran after the Bush administration’s refusal to deal with Tehran.In an interview with Al-Arabiya news channel on Tuesday, Obama condemned Iran’s threats to destroy Israel and its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons, but added: “It is important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress.””That is the way to go,” ElBaradei said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. “It is long overdue.””Iran should answer technical questions from the IAEA and the dialogue should start without preconditions,” ElBaradei said in the presence of Iran’s Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.

The Associated Press: UN nuclear chief supports US-Iran talks

January 31, 2009 Posted by | Iran, politics | Leave a comment

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