Iran wants option of nuclear weapon, says ElBaradei

October 4th, 2009 UN watchdog sets Oct. 25 for Iran inspectionTEHRAN, Iran — The head of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog on Sunday said inspectors would be examining Iran's recently revealed nuclear facility on Oct.

October 3rd, 2009 TEHRAN - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Mohamed ElBaradei arrived in Iran Saturday for talks with Iranian officials over Tehran's nuclear programme, Iran's state radio reported. During his stay in Iran, ElBaradei will meet Iranian officials and discuss Iran's nuclear programme with them, the report said.

October 3rd, 2009 IAEA: ElBaradei to visit Iran this weekendVIENNA — The U.N.'s nuclear watchdog has confirmed that its director general will visit Iran this weekend. The International Atomic Energy Agency says Mohamed ElBaradei and the Iranians will discuss a broad range of issues, including a covertly built enrichment facility that it recently revealed.

October 1st, 2009 IAEA says chief ElBaradei to visit Iran soonGENEVA — The International Atomic Energy Agency says its director will visit Iran to discuss issues related to the country's nuclear program. An IAEA statement says Mohamed ElBaradei was "invited to Tehran by Iranian authorities.

September 30th, 2009 UN official: Iran on 'wrong side' of nuclear lawNEW DELHI — Iran is "on the wrong side of the law" for its delay in revealing its nuclear complex, the head of the U.N. nuclear agency told an Indian news network.

September 30th, 2009 NEW DELHI - UN nuclear watchdog chief Mohamed ElBaradei Wednesday warned against the "biggest threat" of nuclear weapons falling into the hands of extremist groups and asked India to lead global efforts towards nuclear disarmament. "The biggest threat to the world remains ...

September 14th, 2009 Chief UN nuclear inspector urges talks with IranVIENNA — The head of the U.N. nuclear monitoring agency is calling for talks between Iran and the U.S.

September 9th, 2009 VIENNA - There was a "high probability" that Iran worked to develop nuclear weapons in the past, if intelligence information in that regard is genuine, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei said Wednesday in Vienna. ElBaradei was referring to documents received by his organisation that points to a number of suspicious Iranian studies, including the modification of the model of a missile to carry a nuclear warhead.

September 9th, 2009 VIENNA — The United States says it has "serious concerns" that Iran is deliberately trying — at a minimum — to preserve a nuclear weapons option. Washington's chief envoy to the International Atomic Energy Agency says a recent report by the nuclear watchdog shows that Iran is now either very near or already has enough low-enriched uranium to produce one nuclear weapon.

September 2nd, 2009 VIENNA - Outgoing International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei has called the Iranian nuclear threat "hyped," saying there is no proof of the Islamic republic soon having nuclear weapons. "In many ways, I think the threat has been hyped," ElBaradei told the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists in an interview released Tuesday.

May 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, has said that Iran is on track for building a nuclear weapon by 2011. "Certainly from what I've seen over the years, Iran is on a path to develop a nuclear weapon," Mullen said on ABC's "This Week." He added that: "Most of us believe that it's one to three years depending on assumptions on where they are right now.

May 17th, 2009 JERUSALEM - The International Atomic Energy Agency's outgoing chief, Mohamed ElBaradei, has said that Israel would be "utterly insane" to attack Iran. In an interview with German daily Der Spiegel, ElBaradei said: That would turn the region into one great fireball, and the Iranians would immediately begin building the bomb - with the support of the entire Islamic world." ElBaradei called on Teheran to take advantage of the US's newfound willingness to negotiate over the nuclear issue, The Jerusalem Post reported.

March 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Iran is keeping open the option to develop nuclear weapons, the US director of national intelligence said Tuesday. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Dennis Blair said: 'Although we do not know whether Iran currently intends to develop nuclear weapons, we assess Tehran at a minimum is keeping open the option to develop them.' 'Iran does not currently have a nuclear weapon' because it lacks weapons-grade highly enriched uranium, but it could obtain enough as early as 2010, Blair said.

March 10th, 2009 VIENNA - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) chief Mohamed ElBaradei called Monday for Arab countries to help resolve the Iranian nuclear spat, which seems more achievable under the new US administration. 'The neighbours so far have been sitting on the fence,' he said during a speech in the Austrian Parliament in Vienna, hosted by the Austrian Society for Foreign Policy and International Relations.

February 6th, 2009 BERLIN - Iran has reiterated that it will continue cooperating with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in resolving the country's nuclear controversy, the official IRNA news agency reported Friday. 'The bilateral coperation between Iran and the UN nuclear watchdog will proceed based on earlier agreed modalities,' Iran's parliament speaker Ali Larijani said after meeting with the IAEA chief, Mohammad ElBaradei, on the sidelines of the 45th Munich Security Conference.