El Baradei, who is scheduled to visit Israel next month, told reporters that Israel should take steps to disarm in order to reduce frustration in the region about "what is seen to be a widespread imbalance".
"We need... to rid the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction," El Baradei told Reuters. "Israel agrees with that, but they say it has to be... after peace agreements. My proposal is that maybe we need to start to have a parallel dialogue on security at the same time when we're working on the peace process."
El Baradei said that he would like to see Israel, along with other Middle East countries, open up their nuclear facilities to inspections by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.
In a speech today (Tuesday), the same El Baradei who called for a, “Nuclear-free Middle-East" took a different tone – this time dealing with Iran’s nuclear program. El Baradei told reporters that he was unconcerned by Russia's construction of a nuclear reactor in Iran, brushing aside US allegations that the facility could be used to develop nuclear weapons.
America, which says Iran is part of an ‘axis of evil’ seeking nuclear weapons to terrorize the free world, has strongly criticized Russia for pushing ahead with construction of the $800 million reactor near the Iranian port of Bushehr. The American Government has said that Iran could use Moscow's atomic know-how to develop nuclear weapons. El-Baradei has adopted the Iranian claim, announcing today that, "Bushehr is a project to produce nuclear energy," and should not be the “center of international concern.”
Recent satellite photos have led many to claim Iran is attempting to mislead the UN agency, hiding the fact that it has been trying to develop weapons of mass destruction. According to a report in The New Yorker magazine about the nuclear weapons black market, the IDF’s elite intelligence unit known as Unit 8200 broke a “sophisticated Iranian code” a number of years ago permitting the monitoring of communications between Iran and Pakistan regarding Iran’s nuclear program.
"We need... to rid the Middle East of all weapons of mass destruction," El Baradei told Reuters. "Israel agrees with that, but they say it has to be... after peace agreements. My proposal is that maybe we need to start to have a parallel dialogue on security at the same time when we're working on the peace process."
El Baradei said that he would like to see Israel, along with other Middle East countries, open up their nuclear facilities to inspections by the UN's International Atomic Energy Agency.
In a speech today (Tuesday), the same El Baradei who called for a, “Nuclear-free Middle-East" took a different tone – this time dealing with Iran’s nuclear program. El Baradei told reporters that he was unconcerned by Russia's construction of a nuclear reactor in Iran, brushing aside US allegations that the facility could be used to develop nuclear weapons.
America, which says Iran is part of an ‘axis of evil’ seeking nuclear weapons to terrorize the free world, has strongly criticized Russia for pushing ahead with construction of the $800 million reactor near the Iranian port of Bushehr. The American Government has said that Iran could use Moscow's atomic know-how to develop nuclear weapons. El-Baradei has adopted the Iranian claim, announcing today that, "Bushehr is a project to produce nuclear energy," and should not be the “center of international concern.”
Recent satellite photos have led many to claim Iran is attempting to mislead the UN agency, hiding the fact that it has been trying to develop weapons of mass destruction. According to a report in The New Yorker magazine about the nuclear weapons black market, the IDF’s elite intelligence unit known as Unit 8200 broke a “sophisticated Iranian code” a number of years ago permitting the monitoring of communications between Iran and Pakistan regarding Iran’s nuclear program.