IAEA chief warns against striking Iran

By GEORGE JAHN, Associated Press Writer

VIENNA, Austria - The chief U.N. nuclear inspector urged Iran's harshest critics Monday to learn from the Iraq invasion and refrain from "hype" about a possible military attack, saying force was an option of last resort.

Mohamed ElBaradei, speaking outside a 144-nation meeting of his International Atomic Energy Agency, invoked the example of Iraq in urging an end to the threats of force against Iran — most recently over the weekend by France.

"I would not talk about any use of force," said ElBaradei, noting that only the Security Council can authorize such action. "There are rules on how to use force, and I would hope that everybody would have gotten the lesson after the Iraq situation, where 700,000 innocent civilians have lost their lives on the suspicion that a country has nuclear weapons."

He was alluding to a key U.S. argument for invading Iraq in 2003 without Security Council approval — that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear arms. Four years later, no such weapons have been found.

"I do not believe at this stage that we are facing a clear and present danger that require we go beyond diplomacy," ElBaradei said, adding that his agency had no information "the Iran program is being weaponized."

"We need not to hype the issue," he told reporters.

On Sunday, French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner warned the world should prepare for war if Iran obtains nuclear weapons and said European leaders were considering their own economic sanctions against the Islamic country.

Speaking on RTL radio, Kouchner said that if "such a bomb is made ... we must prepare ourselves for the worst," specifying that could mean a war.

Iranian state media lashed out at France on Monday, saying its officials have "become translators of the White House policies in Europe and have adopted a tone that is even harder, even more inflammatory and more illogical than that of Washington

The U.S. has refused to rule out the possibility of force against Iran if it continues to enrich. Still, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday the U.S. administration is committed, for now, to using diplomatic and economic means to counter the potential nuclear threat from Iran.

On Monday, French Prime Minister Francois Fillon sought to play down Kouchner's comments, saying "everything must be done to avoid war."

"France's role is to lead the way to a peaceful solution," Fillon said, while at the same time calling for the "the most severe sanctions possible against the Iranian government if it continues" with its disputed nuclear program.

Negotiations and two sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions have failed to persuade Iran to stop enriching uranium. Iran insists its atomic activities are aimed only at producing energy, but the U.S., its European allies and other world powers suspect the country is seeking nuclear weapons.

Alluding to the U.S. and its Western allies, Iranian Vice President Reza Aghazadeh accused unnamed countries of forcing the international community onto the "unjustified, illegal, deceptive and misleading path ... by imposing restrictions and sanctions."

And he again ruled out scrapping Iran's uranium enrichment program, telling delegates Iran would "never give up its inalienable and legal right in benefiting from peaceful nuclear technology."

ElBaradei called on nations critical of his last-ditch effort to entice Iran into revealing past nuclear activities that could be linked to a weapons program to wait until the end of the year — when the deadline for Iran to provide answers runs out.

"By November or December we will be able to know if Iran is acting in good faith or not," he said, suggesting that was the time to think of tougher diplomacy if needed — but not military action.

He also urged the declared nuclear weapons states — the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France — to set the example and reduce the incentive to proliferate by initiating "deep cuts in their nuclear arsenal."