Global Policy Forum

By Dafna Linzer and Glenn Kessler

The head of the U.N. agency responsible for investigating Iran's nuclear program said Tuesday that there had been no discoveries in the last six months to substantiate claims that the Islamic state is secretly working toward building a nuclear bomb. In a wide-ranging interview with four U.S. newspapers, Mohamed ElBaradei of the International Atomic Energy Agency also described White House policies on Iran and North Korea as inconsistent. Without greater U.S. participation in diplomacy, ElBaradei said, confrontation could increase. "North Korea and Iran are still the two 800-pound gorillas in the room and not much is happening," he said in his office overlooking Vienna.

U.S. officials have attended joint meetings with the North Koreans and envoys from four other countries, but the talks have produced little and have been on hold for almost eight months. The White House has said repeatedly that it wants those talks to resume but recently ruled out a similar arrangement with Iran, arguing that it didn't want to give legitimacy to the country's ruling clerics. "I don't see talking to a regime as legitimization," ElBaradei said. "They talk to North Korea, and I don't think that legitimizes the North Korean regime."

He praised France, Britain and Germany for entering into negotiations with Iran that have led to the suspension of its nuclear activities, such as uranium enrichment, that could be used in a weapons program. "If I look at the big picture," he said, "there is no enrichment in Iran, and this is quite satisfactory, and I hope it keeps this way until we reach an agreement" for a permanent stop. ElBaradei, 62, an international lawyer and Egyptian diplomat, has been at odds with the Bush administration since he challenged U.S. intelligence in the run-up to the invasion of Iraq in March 2003.

His caution on Iran has led some Bush administration officials to suggest he is more interested in blocking U.S. policy than in stopping Iran. The White House wants him to step down when he finishes his second term this summer and has tried to find a candidate willing to challenge him. But a majority of countries on the IAEA board consider ElBaradei's leadership on Iran helpful and want him to take a third term. Despite the tensions with Washington, ElBaradei said professional relations with U.S. officials have been good. "I would hope we would continue to cooperate no matter what," he said. ElBaradei was joined in the interview by top aides from the United States, Britain, Australia and Canada.

During a two-year investigation, IAEA inspectors uncovered an 18-year-old nuclear program in Iran and chastised the country for failing to report the work and disclose its suppliers to the agency, as required under the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The Bush administration contends the program is designed to build nuclear weapons, but Iran says the goal is nuclear energy that will someday substitute for its oil and gas reserves. ElBaradei's last report on the status of the investigation in November said that Iran's cooperation had improved steadily and that most outstanding issues had been resolved. The investigation is continuing, and IAEA inspectors are awaiting results from samples taken recently at an Iranian military facility.

ElBaradei said Tuesday that the past six months have uncovered very little new information. "On Iran, there really hasn't been much development, neither as a result of our inspections or as a result of intelligence." U.S. officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, did not dispute that comment, but emphasized that the investigation was incomplete.

Echoing public and private comments from French, German and British officials, ElBaradei said the only way to end the crisis and avoid confrontation was for the Bush administration to get involved in the talks between the three countries and Iran. "I don't think the Iranian issue will be resolved without the United States putting fully its weight behind the Europeans," he said. "We have been very active diplomatically, including working with the IAEA, on both Iran and North Korea," a senior Bush administration official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he had not seen ElBaradei's full comments. "It is clear that these nations need to take the IAEA more seriously and need to work toward that goal."

The official added that the IAEA's own reports demonstrate an "established pattern" over decades of Iran using peaceful nuclear programs to move toward developing nuclear weapons. "It is not a matter of finding a bomb in a given week," he said. ElBaradei backed the idea of a comprehensive deal between the West and Iran that would address nuclear power, regional security, terrorism and Iranian recognition of Israel. Iran's negotiations with the Europeans touch on some of those issues, and diplomats have signaled that Tehran would be willing to go further if the United States took part.

Over the past four years ElBaradei has been juggling investigations in Iraq, Iran, North Korea, Libya and Pakistan. Of those countries, he said North Korea was "the greatest security challenge" faced by the world. "I am very concerned about the North Korea dialogue right now. . . . The six-party talks never really took off," he said. At the last such meeting, the United States said it would support a South Korean and Japanese proposal to provide energy assistance if North Korea agreed to dismantle its nuclear programs. But the United States said it would not consider providing direct concessions until U.S. intelligence had verified that North Korea had fully disclosed the extent of its nuclear activities.

The North has not officially responded to the offers, but throughout the last two years, has sought to win direct benefits from the United States as a condition of ending its nuclear programs. Last week, North Korea announced that it had built nuclear weapons and was suspending participation in the talks.

ElBaradei said the agency had no way to verify the weapons claim. IAEA inspectors were expelled from North Korea at the end of 2002. But he called the claim a sign that North Korea was feeling helpless and ignored. "This is their trump card, and they will try to squeeze every drop of blood out of it," he said. He urged a strategy aimed at coaxing North Korea back into accepting IAEA inspections. "The sooner, the better," he said.

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