DAVOS, Jan 22: The UN's nuclear watchdog warned Iran on Thursday it faced "serious consequences" unless it cooperated with a probe of its atomic programme , which Washington suspects is aimed at building a bomb.
"They (the Iranians) know it's very important for the agency to come to a conclusion that the Iran programme is for peaceful purposes," International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei said while talking to reporters in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum.
In November, foreign ministers from France, Britain and Germany went to Tehran and struck a deal under which Iran agreed to suspend enrichment activities and accept more intrusive, snap IAEA inspections of its nuclear facilities in exchange for a possible exchange of technology.
But now those countries want Iran to suspend more activities related to enriching uranium, diplomats said. Last week, Western diplomats said Tehran had been acquiring large amounts of equipment for centrifuges, used to enrich uranium, despite its promise in November to suspend all enrichment-related activities. They said it showed Iran had failed to deliver on its pledge, meant to build confidence.
Amid worries in the West that Iran may be backsliding on its promises to suspend some of its nuclear activities, Mohamed ElBaradei said Iran still owed the IAEA some explanations.
"I wouldn't say they (Iran) are not living up to their obligations, but I think that there are issues they still need to clarify," Mr ElBaradei said separately in a BBC TV interview.
Despite Iran's pledge last year to halt all uranium enrichment activity, Western diplomats say they are increasingly concerned that it has continued to acquire centrifuge equipment.
Enriched, or purified, uranium can be used either as fuel for atomic power plants or to make nuclear weapons. Experts say acquiring weapons-grade material is the biggest hurdle that countries seeking to make an atomic bomb must overcome.
"It would obviously have serious implications if they do not continue to cooperate fully with us in investigating the scope, nature, and content of that programme," Mr ElBaradei told reporters in Davos.
The IAEA chief has previously warned that Iran would be reported to the UN Security Council if it did not cooperate with the Vienna-based nuclear agency.
The United States suspects Iran of seeking to build a nuclear bomb under cover of its atomic energy programme, which Tehran insists is purely peaceful and geared only to generating electricity.
BLACK MARKET: Mr ElBaradei told reporters that efforts to stop more countries from acquiring nuclear arms were under great stress because of what he called a black-market network that was trading in weapons technology.
Nuclear programmes in Iran, North Korea and Libya have all intensified Western concern that one or more new countries could join the "nuclear club", although Libya announced late last year it would cooperate with the United States and Britain in dismantling its weapons programmes.
Asked about reports that nuclear know-how and technology may have reached Iran or Libya from Pakistan, Mr ElBaradei said: "I think what we know is that there have been individuals involved. I do not want to jump to conclusions and say a government is involved."
He added: "What we are seeing is a very sophisticated network of black-market proliferators, people who are selling equipment, material underground...We're still very much in the process of investigating this network."
Mr ElBaradei said it was clear that international non-proliferation controls must be examined and strengthened in the light of "lessons" from Iran and Libya. "The regime is under a good deal of stress right now. Absolutely, we need to work fast and hard to strengthen the regime," he said. -Reuters
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