Vienna - Outgoing International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Thursday he was "disappointed" that Iran has failed to agreed to a multinational deal aimed at reducing tensions over the country's nuclear programme. Speaking at the IAEA's Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, ElBaradei also said Tehran was not cooperating with his agency in uncovering the truth about alleged Iranian nuclear weapons projects.
"We have effectively reached a dead end, unless Iran engages fully with us," he said.
With the end of ElBaradei's 12-year tenure as director general approaching on Monday, there was no sign whether or how Iran would formally respond to the proposal of shipping out most of its low- enriched uranium, in return for foreign-made nuclear fuel for a medical-purpose reactor in Tehran.
"I am disappointed that Iran has not so far agreed to the original proposal or the alternative modalities, both of which I believe are balanced and fair and would greatly help to alleviate the concerns relating to Iran's nuclear programme," ElBaradei said.
The proposed deal is supported by the United States, as well as by Russia and France, the two countries offering to produce the fuel for Iran.
ElBaradei said Iran's counterproposal was to leave its own uranium in the country, placing it under IAEA control. Iran also wants a simultaneous swap rather than having to wait for the foreign fuel.
However, the IAEA and the other involved countries would like to see Iran ship out its uranium and agreeing to a waiting period as a signal that its enrichment programme was really for peaceful purposes.
