You know Iran’s shell game is getting absurd when even El Baradei is starting to sound serious. However, the consequences for Iran will likely be limited to yet another deadline from the bottomless bag of meaningless gestures toward eventually holding Iran accountable… but not right away. And all it does is buy Iran more time. “Iran warned over nuclear ‘dead end’ by UN’s El Baradei,” from BBC News, November 26:
Investigations into Iran’s nuclear programme will reach a “dead end” unless Tehran starts to co-operate, the UN nuclear chief has warned.
Mohamed El Baradei told governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that there had been no movement on issues that needed to be clarified.
He said he was “disappointed” with Iran’s rejection of a deal that would see its uranium processed overseas.
He spoke ahead of an IAEA vote on a resolution critical of Iran.
In September Iran was revealed to have a second uranium enrichment facility, deepening Western fears about the nature of its nuclear ambitions.
Iran says its nuclear programme is for peaceful energy purposes, but the US and other nations say its is seeking nuclear weapons.
‘Outstanding issues’
Addressing IAEA governors in Vienna, Mr El Baradei said his inspectors had made no progress on areas which needed to be clarified in order to verify the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme.
“It is now well over a year since the agency was last able to engage Iran in discussions about these outstanding issues,” he said.
“We have effectively reached a dead end, unless Iran engages fully with us.”
Tehran’s late declaration of a second nuclear fuel enrichment facility had, he said, reduced “confidence in the absence of other nuclear facilities under construction in Iran which have not been declared”.
And he called Iran’s failure to agree to a US-backed plan under which its low-enriched uranium would be shipped overseas for processing into fuel disappointing….