[wvns] IAEA Chief Walks Out on EU
Imagine the chief of the IAEA walks out of the European Union and it
is barely part of a sentence in an entire article...
ElBaradei protests at EU statement
Wed, 12 Sep 2007
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=22768§ionid=351020104
The IAEA chief has walked out of a session to protest at an EU
statement against Iran.
The UN nuclear chief Mohammad ElBaradei has left an IAEA meeting in
protest at an EU statement on Iran, diplomats say.
ElBaradei walked out of an afternoon session of his IAEA in Vienna on
Tuesday to voice his anger at a statement issued against Iran by the
EU, the diplomats attending the meeting said.
"The Europeans issued a nasty statement against Iran, so Mr. ElBaradei
left the meeting," said one diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.
IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming declined comment but several
diplomats confirmed that ElBaradei had left the session.
ElBaradei has been under pressure as the US and other Western powers
warn that a timetable for new inspections in Iran agreed by the IAEA
and Tehran last month provides Iran the opportunity to delay new UN
sanctions.
Still, the United States and ElBaradei had closed ranks on the first
day here Monday of a regular meeting of the IAEA board in urging Iran
to meet the timetable and also to do more to show the world it does
not seek the bomb, such as suspending uranium enrichment.
The European Union speech was given by Portuguese ambassador Joaquim
Duarte, as Portugal is the current EU president.
After walking out, ElBaradei stayed away until the session was
adjourned at its regular time until Wednesday. The Portuguese speech
was followed by speeches from Canada and Norway.
Just before the Portuguese speech, ElBaradei had received a rousing
statement of support from the Non-Aligned Movement, in a speech by
Cuban Ambassador Norma Miguelina Goicochea Estenoz as the NAM leader.
She said "NAM shares the view that this work plan (timetable) is a
'significant step forward'" and "reiterates its full confidence in the
impartiality and professionalism of the Secretariat of the IAEA and
its Director General, Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei."
===
Developing states rap "interference" in Iran deal
Tue Sep 11, 2007
By Mark Heinrich
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSL1154089720070911
VIENNA (Reuters) - Non-aligned nations on Tuesday rejected
"interference" in Iran's nuclear transparency deal with U.N.
inspectors, countering Western criticism the pact eases pressure on
Tehran not to seek technology with bomb potential.
The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) of developing nations, which includes
Iran itself, endorsed the deal at a gathering of the International
Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) 35-nation board of governors.
The August 21 "work plan" commits Iran to answer five-year-old IAEA
questions one by one over a rough timeline of a few months, while
leaving untouched Tehran's expanding enrichment work.
The United States and its major European allies said the deal diverted
attention from U.N. Security Council demands that Iran suspend uranium
enrichment and grant broader inspections to defuse mistrust over its
nuclear intentions.
The West fears Iran wants to make nuclear bombs while Tehran insists
its program is aimed solely at electricity production.
A European Union statement to the board focused on demanding Iran
comply with Security Council resolutions and suggested that its pledge
to answer questions about past, hidden nuclear work, while welcome,
was worth little unless Tehran honored it.
The EU "took note" of the "work plan", which in diplomatic terms means
reserving judgment, short of approval. IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei
walked out of the meeting after the EU statement, said several
diplomats who were present.
"The EU statement was short-sighted..., overly hardline and not
helpful," said a Vienna diplomat working on the Iran file. "It's
harmful for the IAEA as an institution."
Ambassador Norma Goicochea Estenoz of Cuba, speaking as current
chairman of NAM, said it "strongly rejects any undue pressure or
interference in the agency's activities ... which could jeopardize its
efficiency and credibility".
Continued
She was alluding to suggestions by Washington and some allies that
Iran bulldozed inspectors into a flawed deal.
STEP FORWARD
The United Nations has imposed two sets of sanctions on Iran for
refusing to halt nuclear fuel work. Iran's agreement with the IAEA has
delayed a fresh set of tougher sanctions meant to deter Tehran from
pursuing enrichment.
"NAM believes this work plan is a significant step forward, as
(ElBaradei) said himself," Goicochea said. "NAM believes it will
facilitate negotiations between Iran and other concerned parties
toward a peaceful settlement of Iran's nuclear issues."
"NAM also expects all concerned parties to avoid taking any measures
which put at risk the recent constructive process between Iran and the
Agency," she said.
There are 115 nations in the NAM, 15 of them on the IAEA's board,
which makes decisions based on consensus.
Iran has few staunch allies in NAM -- Cuba, Syria, Bolivia and
Venezuela, all foes of Washington. Many members are disenchanted with
Iranian intransigence, diplomats say.
But many also resent what they see as efforts by some Western powers
on the board to isolate rather than negotiate with Iran to head off a
slide into conflict.
Ambassador Joachim Duarte of Portugal, current chairman of the EU,
said the bloc appreciated "impartial efforts" by the IAEA to uncover
Iran's nuclear history, but also called for regular status reports to
board governors.
Some Western diplomats have suggested IAEA inspectors should have
consulted governors before sealing the deal.
Duarte said the EU remained open to negotiations on trade benefits for
Iran if it shelved enrichment activity first. Iran has rejected that
precondition as undermining its sovereignty.
===
EU Session that El Baradei (IAEA Chief) walked out on:
September 11, 2007 13:17h
http://www.javno.com/en/world/clanak.php?id=79585
EU Expected to Demand Iran Shelve All Nuclear Work
The European Union is expected this week to renew demands on Iran to
shelve all nuclear work.
Reuters. The European Union is expected this week to renew demands on
Iran to shelve all nuclear work, despite a deal between Tehran and the
U.N. nuclear watchdog meant to assuage fears about its atomic programme.
Sharing U.S. scepticism about Iran's limited agreement to be
transparent for U.N. inspectors, a draft EU statement highlights
Iranian defiance of U.N. Security Council resolutions ordering it to
suspend uranium enrichment, a process that can yield atom bombs.
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei on
Monday assured agency governors meeting in Vienna that the deal's lack
of references to demands for suspension and wider IAEA inspections did
not mean Tehran was free to develop sensitive nuclear technology.
But the EU statement, to be delivered during debate on Wednesday, said
that, while progress towards uncovering Iran's nuclear history was
appreciated, the agreement did nothing to rein in Tehran's expanding
enrichment programme.
"Full and timely implementation of the work plan (to resolve past
activities) would constitute a significant step forward," said the
statement, obtained by Reuters.
"But we have been informed by the IAEA that Iran has further increased
its enrichment capacities" since an agency report on Aug. 30 showing
that Iran was close to being able to start producing usable amounts of
enriched uranium.
The EU condemned Iran's continued refusal to grant wider ranging
inspections of sites not declared to be nuclear in order to verify
that Tehran has no covert military project parallel to its official
quest for nuclear-generated electricity.
ANSWERS NOW NOT LATER
The statement implicitly criticised a rough 2 to 3-month timeline in
the agreement for Iran to answer questions one by one, saying it
should be "fully implemented without delay".
Washington has said it and many board members will press for swifter
responses to questions outstanding for five years.
Diplomats on the board said IAEA negotiators had told them that Iran
was adamant about the staged transparency procedure. "The IAEA told us
this was the best they could get, take it or leave it," one Western
diplomat said.
Elbaradei defended the pact in a speech opening the 35-nation meeting
to counter suspicions raised by Iran's announcement after agreeing the
deal that its nuclear dossier was now "closed".
For that to happen, he said, it was "indispensable" for Iran to permit
broader, intrusive inspections and suspend enrichment-related activity
as required by repeated IAEA board and Security Council resolutions.
The transparency deal stalled a U.S. push to isolate Iran by reducing
European support for, and stiffening Russian resistance to, a swift
resort to tougher U.N. sanctions.
Iran won the reprieve by threatening to exclude the IAEA if Security
Council pressure intensified, diplomats said.
But the U.S. and close EU allies have softened initial scathing
criticism to avoid being seen as wreckers and lending weight to Iran's
argument that it is being bullied by a few big powers more interested
in confrontation than peaceful solutions.
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