Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said while presenting his report on Iran to an IAEA Board of Governors session that the most important thing in progress on Iran was its readiness to fulfill the plan in full, and on schedule.
However, the director general acknowledged that the plan, agreed on after Iran threatened to break off cooperation with the IAEA, was limited, and said Tehran must take additional measures to ensure that its nuclear program is transparent. The pact, which allows Iran to solve each of the disputes surrounding its nuclear plan one after the other, has been criticized by many Western diplomats as being too soft on Tehran.
Iran, which Western countries, led by the U.S., accuse of pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program, recently increased cooperation with the IAEA, and invited weapons inspectors to visit a 40-MW heavy water reactor in Arak in July.
ElBaradei said his agency had ascertained that there were no undeclared nuclear materials in Iran, and said Tehran had provided all additional information and ensured access for IAEA experts to its nuclear facilities.
However, he said Iran had regrettably failed to stop enriching uranium despite UN Security Council calls to do so.
Iran has defied three consecutive UN resolutions against its nuclear program since last year. The six countries negotiating the dispute - the permanent members of the UN Security Council plus Germany - have demanded that Tehran suspend all uranium enrichment before negotiating a solution to the dispute.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad announced in early April the start of uranium enrichment on an industrial scale, and top nuclear negotiator Ali Larijani said earlier Monday that Iran would not stop its enrichment program even if new UN sanctions are introduced.
The IAEA director general also said he hoped for further cooperation with North Korea on shutting down the reclusive country's nuclear program.
A South Korean government source said last Thursday that another round of the six-nation talks aimed at resolving the North Korean nuclear issue could be held in two weeks.
The previous round was held in July, which resulted in North Korea's closing down its nuclear facility at Yongbyon in exchange for 50,000 metric tons of fuel oil from South Korea for its thermal power plants under a deal reached in February.
