IAEA presses N. Korea, Iran on nuke threat
NEW YORK (CNN) -- North Korea poses "a serious challenge" to non-proliferation of nuclear material, and Iran must suspend uranium enrichment in order to calm concern about its nuclear program, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency has told its parent body.
Mohamed ElBaradei said in the IAEA's annual report that although some issues in Iran have improved enough for further follow-up to fall under "routine safeguards implementation," "outstanding issues" remain.
"The extent and nature of Iran's uranium enrichment activities" are central, ElBaradei said.
"I have continued to stress to Iran that, in light of serious international concerns surrounding its nuclear program, it should do its utmost to build confidence through ... voluntary means," he said.
"I have also asked Iran to pursue a policy of maximum transparency, so that we can bring the outstanding issues to resolution."
Iran's parliament on Sunday unanimously passed a resolution allowing the government to continue its uranium enrichment activities, despite recent efforts by European negotiators to curb the program. Iran has previously stated its nuclear program is intended for peaceful purposes.
North Korea has halted all cooperation with the IAEA, however, and kicked out agency monitors in December 2002.
As a result, ElBaradei said, "the agency has not performed any verification activities in (North Korea), and cannot therefore provide any level of assurance about the non-diversion of nuclear material."
ElBaradei pointed to North Korea's heated dispute with the United States -- it accuses the United States of having "hostile policies" toward it -- and insists on bilateral talks with the administration.
Speaking in response, North Korea's ambassador to the United Nations, Pak Gil Yon, dismissed the IAEA report, saying North Korea had "no relations" with the IAEA nor with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty -- from which it withdrew last year.
"It is not relevant for the IAEA to report" on North Korea, Pak said.
As his nation has often in the past, Pak also blamed the nuclear build up on "the United States' hostile policy," which has to be settled directly between the United States and North Korea.
The U.S. seat in the General Assembly was empty during Pak's speech.
The Bush White House denies any hostile intentions, and refuses talks with North Korea outside the "six-party talks" that include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea.
In typical understatement, ElBaradei told the U.N. General Assembly that he hoped the six-party talks would soon lead to a settlement that would allow his agency "to fulfill its verification responsibilities in a credible manner."
But last week, North Korea said it was "impossible to open the talks now," charging the United States with being "evermore undisguised in its hostile policy" towards North Korea.
The two sides also disagree over the nature of Pyongyang's nuclear program, the sequence of dismantling it, and the concessions Pyongyang could get from the United States and other countries in exchange for such disarmament.
On two other countries -- Libya and Iraq -- ElBaradei noted different results.
Libya, he said, has cooperated with the agency's verification efforts since renouncing its nuclear program nearly a year ago, although "further investigation is still needed."
The IAEA has been kept out of Iraq, however, since the U.S.-led invasion of March 2003.
ElBaradei said he hoped the UN Security Council would soon "provide guidance" on resuming his agencies existing mandate in Iraq.
ElBaradei also took the opportunity to emphasize his agency's success in Iraq -- a position that put him in opposition to the U.S government in the run-up to the U.S.-led Iraq war.
He noted subsequent searches for weapons of mass destruction by U.S.-led teams had validated the IAEA's findings before being asked to leave that there was "no evidence of the revival of nuclear activities" in Iraq.
ElBaradei did not refer directly to the 360 tonnes of missing explosives that has recently been in the news.
However, he hinted at the topic, saying the agency needed to resume its verification and monitoring activities "as soon as the security situation permits -- particularly in view of the dual-use items that have been under IAEA custody in Iraq that would be susceptible to misuse."
Technology no longer a barrier
ElBaradei told the General Assembly that the agency was seeing good progress on nuclear safety issues and applications of nuclear technology.
But, he said, the discovery "of an extensive illicit market for the supply of nuclear items" was a sobering lesson.
"The relative ease with which a multinational illicit network could be set up and operated demonstrates clearly the inadequacy of the present export control system, which relies on informal arrangements," he said.
Part of the problem, he said, was that advanced technology was no longer a viable barrier against proliferation as the technical issues involved in nuclear activity had "eroded over time."
The future, ElBaradei said, should include "better control over sensitive aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle, increased efforts to secure and protect nuclear material and facilities, a more inclusive and integrated export control system, and the need for all states to conclude additional protocols" of safety and non-proliferation standards.
"I should also stress the importance of working collectively to address the sense of insecurity and instability that persists in many counties and regions," he said.
ElBaradei also said he had made no progress toward developing agreements regarding nuclear activities in the Middle East, although he planned to organize a forum in the region early next year to discuss establishing a nuclear weapon-free zone in the region.
