Mohamed ElBaradei told the UN General Assembly that Iran's failure to heed demands for a halt to its uranium enrichment and adopt transparency measures on its nuclear program meant that the agency "continues to be unable to confirm the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, which is a matter of serious concern".
He however expressed hope that Iran and its European and other partners would ultimately be able to begin talks "to achieve a comprehensive settlement that would ...supplement IAEA verification efforts in addressing international concerns about the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program, while on the other hand addressing Iran's security and other concerns."
ElBaradei was briefing the 192-member Assembly on the activities of his Vienna-based agency this year.
Iran vehemently rejects Western allegations that its nuclear program is aimed at developing nuclear weapons, saying the drive is solely aimed at generating electricity.
Despite current efforts by Western powers to slap Security Council sanctions on Tehran over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment, Iran has stepped up its research into the sensitive activity.
It has enriched uranium on a research level from a second cascade of 164 centrifuges at its nuclear plant in Natanz as well as from an already installed cascade of a similar size.
Turning to North Korea's first-ever nuclear test earlier this month, ElBaradei said it "re-emphasises the urgent need to establish a legally binding universal ban on nuclear testing through the early entry-into-force of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty."
The CTBT, which bans all nuclear explosions, cannot come into force until it is ratified by the required 44 states which had nuclear research or power facilities when it was adopted in 1996.
So far only 34 have done so. The United States, the world's leading nuclear power, North Korea, China, India, Pakistan and Israel are among the remaining 10 countries that have not ratified ElBaradei also stressed the importance of finding a negotiated solution to the North Korean nuclear crisis, saying a resumption of stalled six-party talks -- the two Koreas, China, Japan, Russia and the United States -- "is indispensable and urgent."
"The IAEA stands ready to work with the DPRK (North Korea) - and with all others -- towards a solution that addresses the needs of the international community to ensure that all nuclear activities are exclusively for peaceful purposes, while addressing the security and other concerns of the DPRK," he added.
Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2006
