DAR AL HARB/ISLAM - U.S.A./IRAN: AN ATTACK ON IRAN WOULD BE AN ACT OF MADNESS

Attacking Iran would be an act of madness, says ElBaradei

Vienna • The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said yesterday that an attack on Iran over its refusal to freeze programmes that could make nuclear weapons would be “an act of madness,” an indirect warning to the United States and Israel.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei also said Iran could be running close to 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges by the end of next month — a number that IAEA officials have described as the point of no return in the start of a large-scale programme.

ElBaradei spoke at the end of a meeting of his agency’s 35-nation board, a gathering that focused on Iran’s refusal to heed UN Security Council demands that it freeze activities that could serve to make nuclear arms and provide answers on suspicious aspects of its programme.

He also urged Iran to offer a “self-imposed moratorium” on enrichment, describing it as a “good confidence-building measure” that could launch negotiations on the standoff.

But the chief Iranian envoy to the meeting asserted his country would never suspend enrichment — the key issue of Security Council concern. Iran has said its nuclear programme is peaceful and aims to generate energy, not bombs. Although they’ve called for a negotiated solution, both the US and Israel have refused to outright dismiss the possibility that they might target Iran militarily if it refuses to back down. ElBaradei described use of force as “an act of madness ... (that) would not resolve the issue.”


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1) Attacking Iran would be an act of madness, says ElBaradei