IAEA Director-General Welcomes Iran's Reported Commitment to Cooperate with UN Nuclear Inspectors

An Interview With IAEA Director-General Mohamed Elbaradei

ACT: Obviously, it looks like there's been some good news this morning coming out of Tehran. I just wanted to get your reaction to Iran's announcement that it will allow IAEA inspections and suspend its uranium enrichment activities.

ElBaradei: Yeah, you know, it's encouraging news coming out…[but] I still need to be briefed on exactly…the commitment by Iran. However, this is in line with their commitment to me last week that they are ready to come with a full declaration of all their past nuclear activities and they are ready to conclude a protocol to regulate their future nuclear activities.
And if the news today is correct that they are also ready to suspend, or apply a moratorium on their enrichment activities as a confidence building measure, as called by the [the IAEA Board of Governors]…in their decision last month, then I think this will open the way for hopefully a comprehensive settlement of the Iranian issues through verification and through political dialogue.

ACT: If this does play out in term of the details that you are hearing, would this address the fundamental concerns that the international community has about Iran's nuclear programs?

ElBaradei: Well I think we still have to get the declaration and make sure…that we need to verify whatever declaration we will get and make sure that it is comprehensive and accurate. So that would take care of the past activities. We then also need to have the protocol and make sure that all future activities in Iran would be under our verification. As you know, we never have 100 percent certainty, and that's why we would like to have in Iran and everywhere else a continuous process of inspections and we need the authority of the protocol to enable us in a country with an extensive knowledge and program to do a comprehensive job.

So yes, if we get a comprehensive declaration, and we are able to verify that it is accurate and complete and if we get the protocol and we are able to implement the protocol in all future activities in Iran, then I think this would be a leap forward in terms of the international community's concerns about Iran's nuclear program.

ACT: Have you discussed the latest talks at all with the foreign ministers?

ElBaradei: I think I am going to have that…either tonight or tomorrow.