By Nicola Smith - 2nd March 2004
The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog has given an optimistic report of Iran’s compliance with international inspectors despite ongoing concerns about its nuclear ambitions.
Mohammed ElBaradei told a Brussels news conference on Tuesday there had been a “sea change” in Iran’s relations with the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency over the past year.
Tehran bowed to intense international pressure at the end of 2003 to allow international inspections of its nuclear facilities and to put a halt to its uranium enrichment programme.
“If you look at the big picture, we are clearly moving in the right direction,” said the nuclear chief.
But he conceded that confidence in Iran had been “set back” by the discovery of undeclared traces of radioactive elements and technology that could have been used for atomic weapons.
ElBaradei was in Brussels to attend an EU conference on nuclear energy. He also held a private lunch with EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana to discuss Iran and other nuclear proliferation issues.
The EU is waiting for an official IAEA assessment on Iran’s nuclear programme before it draws its own conclusions on the matter.
The IAEA board will convene in Vienna next week to discuss the issue.
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