Pat Dollard | Young Americans

As you’ll tell by the two stories below, a controversy broke out today, started when diplomats charged that Iran had refused a trip to Iran by ElBaradei. Within hours, Iran issued a denial.

IAEA chief rebuffed by Iranians: diplomats

VIENNA, Nov 13 (AFP) Nov 13, 2007

Iran recently rejected an approach by UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei for a meeting ahead of the publication of the IAEA’s crucial report on Tehran’s disputed nuclear programme, diplomats here said Tuesday.

The diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief ElBaradei had wanted to visit Iran ahead of the publication of the eagerly awaited report, which sources said could come as early as Wednesday afternoon or Thursday.

The report will determine whether Iran is cooperating with an IAEA investigation into its disputed nuclear activities. And if that cooperation is found wanting, it could pave the way for a new round of sanctions by the UN Security Council against the Islamic republic.

IAEA’s deputy director general, Olli Heinonen, and a delegation of technical experts have made a number of visits to Iran in recent weeks.

But a diplomat said that ElBaradei himself had also proposed going to Iran, with some suggestions that he might even meet Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khameini.

“But they (the Iranians) felt that the time was not right, so the meeting was postponed,” the diplomat said.

A spokeswoman for the Vienna-based agency declined to comment on the information.

Nevertheless, Tehran’s apparent rebuffal of ElBaradei comes at an extremely sensitive juncture.

Iran and the IAEA agreed in August on a timetable for Tehran to provide answers to remaining questions over its nuclear programme.

Specifically, IAEA is concerned about Iran’s work with the centrifuges which enrich uranium into what can be reactor fuel or, in highly refined form, atom bomb material.

And if such questions are not cleared up within the given timeframe, the United States and some of its European allies want to impose new sanctions against Iran.

The US believes Iran is trying to develop a nuclear weapon, a charge Tehran has repeatedly denied.

The five members of the United Nations Security Council — Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States — plus Germany have engaged in fraught negotiations with Iran for years to convince it to stop enriching uranium.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said last week that Iran has reached a key target of 3,000 centrifuges for uranium enrichment. That is the number which scientists say is sufficient, in ideal conditions, to produce enough enriched uranium in one year to make a single nuclear bomb.

Washington accuses Tehran of seeking nuclear weapons and has never ruled out the option of military action to end its defiance. Iran insists it wants only to generate electricity for a growing population.

Iran Denies Blocking ElBaradei

AFP:

Iran on Tuesday denied claims that it had rejected a visit by UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei ahead of a crucial report on Tehran’s contested atomic drive.

“Mr ElBaradei’s trip is on the agenda and its definite date will be decided when the two sides agree,” foreign ministry spokesman Mohammad Ali Hosseini told Iranian state media.

Diplomats in Vienna, where the International Atomic Energy Agency is based, said earlier that ElBaradei had wanted to visit Tehran ahead of the publication of his report, but that the Iranians felt the time was not right.

“Currently, we are in the process of defining a situation for this meeting and his visit to Iran. The invitation for Mr ElBaradei is still on,” Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh, told state media.

The IAEA report, which could be released on Wednesday or Thursday, will determine whether Iran is cooperating with an investigation into its disputed nuclear activities.