Iran atomic head: new IAEA chief biased

China says still room for Iran nuclear talks, Russia rejects sanctions that target Iran civilians.

TEHRAN - Iran's atomic chief Ali Akbar Salehi Tuesday accused the new head of the UN atomic watchdog of bias and said he hoped the Japanese official would change his approach towards Tehran's atomic program.

"We expected Mr (Yukiya) Amano to examine and adopt a position about the nuclear issue in an unbiased way, but unfortunately and in contradiction with what he had said before, we did not see an unbiased position," Salehi said when asked to react to Amano remarks at the UN atomic body meeting on Monday.

"We hope that he will change his approach."

Amano, who took over as the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on December 1, said in an address to the agency's board in Vienna that Iran is still not giving sufficient information on its nuclear activities.

"We cannot confirm that all nuclear material in Iran is in peaceful activities because Iran has not provided the agency with the necessary cooperation," Amano said.

He later clarified at a press conference that Tehran was cooperating, "but there are areas where we don't have cooperation and (where) we need cooperation."

Around two weeks before the meeting, Amano had circulated a report to IAEA member states regarding Iran's atomic program which was seen as using tougher language than his predecessor Mohamed ElBaradei.

In the report Amano expressed concern that Tehran may be working on a nuclear warhead.

Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had responded to the report by accusing the IAEA of lacking independence and being "influenced by the United States."

The United States said Monday Iran needed to start answering questions, rather than criticize the agency.

But Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Monday it could take months for new UN sanctions against Iran.

The chief US diplomat appeared to back away from her contention before the US Senate last week that a new resolution could be obtained in the "next 30 to 60 days."

"We are moving expeditiously and thoroughly in the Security Council. I can't give you an exact date, but I would assume sometime in the next several months," she said.

China on Tuesday called for more talks to resolve the Iranian nuclear standoff.

"We call for a resolution of the Iranian nuclear issue through diplomatic means. We believe there is still room for diplomatic efforts," foreign ministry spokesman Qin Gang told reporters when asked about Medvedev's statement.

"We believe parties concerned should step up diplomatic efforts and push for progress in dialogue and negotiations to properly resolve the Iranian nuclear issue."

China is one of five veto-wielding members of the UN Security Council. The others -- Britain, France, Russia and the United States -- as well as Germany are involved in talks with Iran on its nuclear program.

Russia also has been hesitant to sign on to a new UN sanctions regime, but on Monday in Paris after talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Medvedev said that while sanctions were a last resort, he was open to the idea.

"Russia is ready, together with our other partners, to consider introducing sanctions" if there is no breakthrough in the negotiations, he told a news conference.

"These sanctions should be calibrated and smart. These sanctions should not target the civilian population," the Russian leader said.

Source: Middle East Online.
Link: http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=37572.