IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei hopes that latest development in Iran are "simply a hiccup in the process and not a permanent rupture", he told the international press corps gathered in Vienna today. The IAEA chief called on all parties to exercise maximum restraint, desist from taking any unilateral actions and continue the negotiation process, in a briefing to the media before the opening of a special session of the Agency's Board of Governors this afternoon.
Dr. ElBaradei said that yesterday Iran had started to introduce feed material into its uranium conversion facility, "essentially unravelling the suspension of enrichment related and conversion activities with respect to Isfahan Nuclear facility".
"The Board has clearly stated in the past that although suspension of enrichment related and conversion activities in the Islamic Republic of Iran is a voluntary decision, it is nonetheless essential for confidence-building and for resolution of outstanding issues relevant to Iran's past undeclared nuclear activities," Dr ElBaradei said.
He appealed to all parties to continue the negotiating process. "I don't believe that any of these issues can be resolved outside the negotiating process. Confidence building is a long-term process and requires a dialogue. I would request all parties to exercise maximum restraint, to desist from taking any unilateral action and to try to go back to where we were a week ago, basically, continue to work with the Agency to clarify outstanding verification issues and continue to work with Europe on a long-term framework agreement by which Iran's relationship with the West will be normalized."
"This is good for Iran, this is good for regional security and this is good for the international community, " he said.