ElBaradei calls on Iran to address concerns on nuclear program

¡¡¡¡VIENNA, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The UN atomic watchdog's chief Mohamed ElBaradei on Monday called on Iran to address international concerns on its nuclear program to restore confidence of the UN agency.

¡¡¡¡"Unlike other verification cases, the IAEA's confidence about the nature of Iran's program has been shaken because of two decades of undeclared activities (until 2003)," ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IEAE), said in opening remarks to a gathering of the IAEA's 35-nation board of governors.

¡¡¡¡"This confidence will only be restored when Iran takes the long overdue decision to explain and answer all the agency's questions and concerns about its past nuclear activities in an open and transparent manner," said ElBaradei.

¡¡¡¡Iran, which maintains the peaceful nature of its nuclear program, ignored a Feb. 21 UN Security Council deadline for it to suspend proliferation sensitive activities like uranium enrichment and reprocessing.

¡¡¡¡At the board meeting this week, the IAEA board of governors was expected to approve the IAEA's implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1737 which requires the agency to limit technical cooperation with Iran in sensitive fields.

¡¡¡¡Furthermore, six world powers are talking about widening sanctions against Iran for pressing ahead with its controversial program to enrich uranium.

¡¡¡¡Iran has complained of unfair treatment, noting the IAEA has found no hard evidence of diversions of nuclear material into nuclear bomb-making.

¡¡¡¡"We have not seen concrete proof of diversion of nuclear material, nor the industrial capacity to produce weapons-usable nuclear material, which is an important consideration in assessing the risk," said ElBaradei.

¡¡¡¡"But quite a few uncertainties remain about experiments, procurements and other activities ... This renders the agency unable to provide the required assurance about the peaceful nature of Iran's nuclear program," he said.