Translated material
Nuclear wedge
Iran has quarreled Americans with the IAEA
The session of the board of governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which opened yesterday in Vienna, was marked by sharp disagreements between the agency's director general, Muhammad ElBaradei, and the Americans. US Representative Gregory Schulte considered the IAEA's efforts to find a negotiated solution to the Iranian nuclear problem useless.In addition, Washington distributed a special letter to the remaining 34 members of the IAEA Management Committee. According to diplomatic sources, in it the United States demanded “not to take into account” the joint action plan developed in August by the IAEA and Tehran . This plan provides for a phased resolution of issues related to the Iranian nuclear program and, according to Vremya Novostei, does not require Iran to categorically suspend uranium enrichment. And this goes against the position of the United States.
The IAEA Director General was cautious with his assessments in his report yesterday. However, its content was more in line with the interests of Iran than the United States. According to ElBaradei, the Iranians provided international experts with “additional information and access to facilities necessary to resolve a number of long-standing issues.” And although he called Iran's refusal to suspend uranium enrichment "regrettable", the main conclusion of the report is promising for Tehran - a successful conclusion of IAEA negotiations with Iran can be expected in the near future. An Iranian diplomatic source told VN that Tehran's nuclear file could be closed by March 2008.
“The agreement with the IAEA divided Iran's nuclear activities into three parts: past undeclared, current and future. The IAEA agreed not to ask questions regarding Iran’s current developments and its future plans, recognizing that they comply with the requirements of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT),” noted VN’s Iranian interlocutor. Tehran guaranteed ElBaradei's department full and detailed answers to questions regarding Iranian nuclear activities in previous years, when they took place without proper control by the IAEA.
This time the agency formulated its questions very specifically, there are only seven of them. “The Iranian leadership has already answered two of them, and the answers completely satisfied Mr. ElBaradei. In particular, we are talking about the absence of undeclared work with plutonium. Over the next few months, the remaining questions will be answered. This will allow the IAEA to close the Iranian nuclear dossier, and further cooperation between Vienna and Tehran will proceed as usual,” Iranian diplomatic circles told VN.
Moscow initially advocated maintaining control over the Iranian nuclear program with the IAEA. Obviously, this issue will be actively discussed during the visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Tehran, scheduled, according to Iranian VN sources, for October 16. Iran has been waiting for the Russian leader for a state visit for several years. Vladimir Putin will come to Tehran for the summit of the Caspian states, but he will have the opportunity to hold bilateral meetings with Iranian leaders.
Gregory Schulte did not like the optimistic conclusions of the IAEA Director General. He made a routine nod to ElBaradei for his efforts to “overcome Iran’s refusal to cooperate fully” and immediately made it clear that he did not see much point in them. Even if Iran "provides prompt and complete answers to the IAEA's questions regarding its past programs," such cooperation will not help alleviate global concerns, the US official said. Moreover, Iran could use it to cover its attempts to develop nuclear weapons.
Behind the scenes, the IAEA believes that the United States and its allies will try to disavow al-Baradei’s conclusions and actions, accusing him of exceeding his authority. Former UN nuclear inspector David Albright has already said that the director general is “trying to use the IAEA to conduct international diplomacy,” for which he “has no mandate.”