I.A.E.A. NUCLEAR CHIEF CALLS THEM "THE CRAZIES"

"He recalls, for example, that he had appealed to the Security Council 13 days before the Iraq conflict to give him three more months of inspections as “an investment in peace”. “They didn’t listen. The result is as we see it today,” he says.

European diplomats say the Iran case is different. However well-intentioned Mr ElBaradei might be, his “work plan” risks under­mining moderates in Washington who seek gradual pressure on Iran through sanctions and playing into the hands of those he has called the “crazies” – hardliners convinced that military strikes are the only answer.

From his perspective, however, the “work plan” is only a three-month trial period and a chance worth taking. If diplomacy hasn’t worked, he says, it is not due to his deal but to the fact that Tehran and world powers have yet to sit down for serious talks.

In any case, he says, Iran does not represent an “imminent threat”.

“If people are talking about war, they have to tell me what the casus belli is – it can’t be what we see in Iran – it is far from having a nuclear weapon,” he says.

 

A major aspect of the "work plan" is to answer key questions about Tehran's nuclear program since 1980.“I would hope that by November we would have resolved these two issues but I can’t say how far we will go,” he said. “The key is to show that Iran is acting with us in good faith, with good intentions.”     

" if Iran failed to deliver on a pledge to provide those answers it would “backfire in their face”.

"“I’ve told the Iranians: ‘This is your litmus test. You committed yourself to come clean. If you don’t, nobody will be able to come to your support’,” he said."