ElBaredei to Iran: Don’t miss fleeting chance

BERLIN (WJC)–The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Mohamed ElBaradei, said on Friday that he believed Iran had not totally rejected the IAEA’s nuclear fuel plan, but that time was running out. “The ball is now in Iran’s court. I hope they will not miss this fleeting chance,” ElBaradei told reporters in Berlin. He said that the Iranians “needed to rise above their domestic conflicts” on the nuclear issue, and take a “minimum risk” in the interests of peace. “I hope to get an answer soon, within the next week or so.”

The IAEA chief also said that he did not want to see further sanctions against Iran, as they would only force Tehran into a more hawkish position. “It is a unique opportunity to move from sanctions and confrontation to the process of building…trust,” ElBaradei said at a press conference in Berlin.

On Thursday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad had brushed off international warnings after apparently rejecting a compromise deal on the country’s controversial nuclear program. However, Iran still has not made a formal written response to the IAEA’s proposal. On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki said Tehran would only accept the fuel deal if the swap of low-enriched uranium for nuclear fuel would be effected simultaneously, and on Iranian territory.

In Brussels, senior diplomats from the Group of Six Nations (Britain, China, France, Germany, Russia and the United States) met on Friday to discuss how to respond to Iran’s negative response to the deal.

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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress