BERLIN, Sept 3: If Iran fails to resolve its nuclear dispute by the end of the year, it may be passing by its last chance to do so, the UN atomic energy agency head said in an interview on Monday.

“By November, or December at the latest, we should be able to state whether the Iranians are keeping their promises. If they don’t keep them, Tehran will have passed by an important chance, perhaps the last,” Mohamed ElBaradei, the International Atomic Energy Agency head, told weekly Der Spiegel.

However, the IAEA chief urged international players to “encourage” Iran to cooperate.

“Beside sanctions, there must also be encouragement,” he said.

Asked about Iran’s insistence that it had the right to enrich uranium under the terms of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, ElBaradei said: “There are concrete elements of suspicion against Iran -- so I am of the opinion that Iran has temporarily forfeited this right and must win back this right through confidence-building measures towards the international community.” Asked about the possible use of force against Tehran, ElBaradei said that might destroy a large part of Iran’s nuclear installations, but warned of the danger of an explosion of violence in the whole region.—AFP