The director of the United Nations nuclear watchdog warned Thursday that its investigation into Iran’s nuclear program had “effectively reached dead end” after more than a year of stonewalling by Tehran.
Mohamed ElBaradei, the departing director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, issued an unusually direct rebuke of Iran’s intransigence in a speech in Vienna, saying that it had been more than a year since Iran had answered questions about the extent of its nuclear ambitions, including suspicions that it is pursuing nuclear weapons.
“It is now well over a year since the agency was last able to engage Iran in discussions about these outstanding issues,” Dr. ElBaradei said in remarks to the nuclear agency’s governors. “We have effectively reached a dead end, unless Iran engages fully with us.”
The agency’s 35-member board is expected to vote on a resolution criticizing Iran for failing to tell the agency about a uranium enrichment plant near the city of Qum until confronted by the West this fall with evidence of its existence. It would be the first time in nearly four years the United Nations body has passed a resolution against Iran’s nuclear activities.
Iranian officials insist that their nuclear program is for peaceful purposes, but the United States and European countries believe Tehran is enriching uranium with the ultimate aim of developing a nuclear weapon. International inspectors worry that Iran could be concealing other atomic facilities.
Dr. ElBaradei also said he was “disappointed” that Iran had not accepted a United Nations-brokered deal that would oblige it to send most of its low-enriched nuclear fuel abroad, where it would be processed and returned for use in a medical reactor.
The draft agreement was supported by the United States and European powers who saw it as a way to delay for a year any possibility that Iran could “sprint” to a nuclear weapons capacity, a possibility that has escalated tensions, particularly with Israel.
Dr. ElBaradei’s remarks, which come just days before he steps down as head of the nuclear agency, seem to reflect his frustration with Tehran’s failure to respond to his low-key approach to negotiations. In recent weeks, talks with Iran about the draft nuclear agreement have devolved into a back-and-forth of defiant statements from Iranian officials and admonishments from Western leaders, with no sign of an agreement in sight.
Dr. ElBaradei also seemed to offer a veiled dig at powers like the United States for refusing to share their intelligence on Iran’s nuclear program, for fear of compromising intelligence or displaying all their cards to the Iranian government.
“It would help if we were able to share with Iran more of the material that is at the center of these concerns,” Dr. ElBaradei said.
Still, he seemed to hold out hope that Iranian leaders might return to the table to defuse a standoff.
“The proposed agreement represents a unique opportunity to address a humanitarian need and create space for negotiations,” he said. “This opportunity should be seized and it would be highly regrettable if it was missed.”
