The Foreign Ministry on Saturday criticized the latest United Nations report on Iran’s nuclear program as begin too soft on the Islamic Republic for its failure to cooperate with the International Atomic Energy Agency. Tehran was happy with the report and said it proves its nuclear intentions are peaceful.
The report is the last one to be issued by IAEA Director Mohamed ElBaradei, an Egyptian who frequently has been criticized by Israel for not disclosing information that implicates Iran and for opposing an attack on the country.
ElBaradei earlier this year told The New York Times, “Israel would be utterly crazy to attack Iran."
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that the latest report “does not reflect all the information available to the IAEA regarding Iran's efforts to progress with its military program, as well as its ongoing concealment and deception efforts.”
The Tehran Times reported that the report praised Iran for allowing better camera surveillance at the Natanz nuclear facility, where Tehran is trying to enrich uranium that Israel fears will be used to manufacture a nuclear warhead aimed at Israel.
ElBaradei again “insisted that the agency, under his leadership, has not found any nuclear material diverted for military purposes,” according to Ali Asghar Soltanieh, Iran’s representative to the IAEA.
The report criticized Iran for its refusal to halt work on enriching uranium. "There remain a number of outstanding issues which give rise to concerns and which need to be clarified to exclude the existence of possible military dimensions to Iran's nuclear program," the report stated.
Israel and the United States are trying to put pressure on the United Nations Security Council to place crippling sanctions against Iran. Previous sanctions have been watered down by China and Russia, which have a vested interest in construction of the Iran’s nuclear facilities.
