ElBaradei discusses Iran nuke views with Rice

Washington, May 25: The head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency said today he discussed Iran's nuclear views with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice after talks with Tehran's negotiator, Ali Larijani.

Mohamed ElBaradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, also told reporters it was up to the United States to decide whether it would participate in direct negotiations with Iran on the nuclear crisis.

He spoke as senior officials from the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China, along with Germany, met in London to discuss a package of incentives and disincentives aimed at preventing Iran from being able to build a nuclear bomb.

The United States and some of its Western allies suspect that Iran's nuclear program is a cover-up for efforts to develop nuclear weapons and are trying to get it to halt sensitive uranium enrichment work. Tehran says the program is only for peaceful energy production and insists on its right to a full range of nuclear technology.

ElBaradei said that before visiting Washington he listened to Larijani's views on how the nuclear crisis could be resolved and ''of course I briefed Secretary Rice on the Iranian point of view, but it's rather different from the U.S point of view,'' The IAEA chief, some European Union officials and many analysts have said efforts to end the crisis could be boosted if Washington began talking to Tehran after 26 years of official silence.

ElBaradei, who met Rice for about 45 minutes, did not publicly press the United States on this point, saying only ''I leave it for the U.S. to decide whether they would like to be part of the negotiating process,'' Washington has said it will stick to the multilateral approach on the nuclear issue.

Rice said the meeting of major powers in London had ''good progress. We did not expect that they were going to finalize all matters and I understand they are still working on some matters.'' She did not elaborate.

ElBaradei said: ''It is very important for Iran to take whatever measures are required for the international community to have confidence that its (nuclear) program is peaceful in nature.''

Reuters

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