NETHERLANDS: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei urges compromise in Iran nuclear row

Record ID: 858871

  • Title: NETHERLANDS: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei urges compromise in Iran nuclear row
  • Date: 11th May 2006
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE) (English), MOHAMED ELBARADEI, IAEA DIRECTOR-GENERAL, SAYING: "I think what we see today is all the parties trying to use incentives and disincentives. That's the art of diplomacy, you try to use carrots, try to use sticks. I hope at this stage, we will use more carrots, before we think of using sticks." WIDE OF NEWS CONFERENCE WITH JOURNALISTS (SOUNDBITE) (English), MOHAMED ELBARADEI, IAEA DIRECTOR-GENERAL, SAYING: "I always said I believe that you can escalate, but at the end of the day a durable solution is only a negotiated solution, so the earlier we go to the negotiation table, the better for everybody. Thank you very much." / ELBARADEI RISES TO LEAVE NEWS CONFERENCE
  • Embargoed: 26th May 2006 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Netherlands
  • City:
  • Country: Netherlands
  • Topics: Defence / Military
  • Reuters ID: LVAED2RM5LQ5CZKLAM06UKWZHO3R
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  • Story Text: The head of the UN nuclear watchdog welcomed on Thursday (May 11) moves to avert possible UN sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear programme and appealed for compromise as Iran's president said he was ready to talk.
    Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said he was pleased the UN Security Council was holding off from sanctions against Iran as Europeans work on a package of benefits to induce Tehran to cooperate.
    "I'm very optimistic. I hope both sides will move away from the war of words, I hope the pitch will go down, I hope people will adopt a cool-headed approach," he told a news conference at Amsterdam's Schipol airport. "We need compromises from both sides."
    "I hope that at this stage we will use more carrots before we think of using sticks," he said.
    Washington and its European allies have been seeking a U.N. Security Council resolution that would oblige Iran to halt all uranium enrichment work or face possible sanctions.
    But Russia and China have resisted the move and Washington agreed this week to let Europeans first devise a package of benefits for Iran in return for cooperating, putting back a decision on a possible resolution for about two weeks.
    Tehran says it only wants to produce low-grade enriched uranium to use in atomic power reactors, not the highly enriched uranium needed to make bombs.
    During a visit to Indonesia, President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran was "ready to engage in dialogue with anybody".
    He was responding to a question on a letter he sent to U.S. President George W. Bush this week, the first by an Iranian president to his U.S. counterpart since Washington cut ties with Iran in 1980 following Iran's 1979 revolution.
    Washington has dismissed the letter as a diversionary tactic that did not address the problem of Tehran's nuclear ambitions. Ahmadinejad defended Iran's nuclear policies in a speech at the University of Indonesia.
    ElBaradei, in The Netherlands to receive an award, said the Iran crisis could only be solved by addressing issues like security and trade as well as the question of nuclear energy.
    "I always said I believe that you can escalate, but at the end of the day a durable solution is only a negotiated solution, so the earlier we go to the negotiation table, the better for everybody," he said.
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