AMSTERDAM: The head of the UN nuclear watchdog appealed for a diplomatic solution to the crisis over Iran s nuclear program on Thursday as Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he was ready to talk. Mohamed El Baradei, head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), welcomed the U.N. Security Council s holding off from sanctions on Iran over its nuclear program as Europeans work on a package of benefits to induce Tehran to cooperate. I hope both sides will move away from the war of words, I hope the pitch will go down, I hope people will adopt a cool-headed approach, El Baradei told a news conference at Amsterdam airport. We need compromises from both sides. I hope that at this stage we will use more carrots before we think of using sticks, he said. It is a very good idea that the Security Council is holding its horses. Washington and its European allies have been seeking a U.N. Security Council resolution that would oblige Iran to halt all uranium enrichment work or face possible sanctions. But Russia and China have resisted the move and Washington agreed this week to let Europeans first devise a package of benefits for Iran in return for cooperating, putting back a decision on a possible resolution for about two weeks. Tehran says it only wants to produce low-grade enriched uranium to use in atomic power reactors, not the highly enriched uranium needed to make bombs. During a visit to Indonesia, President Ahmadinejad said Iran was ready to engage in dialogue with anybody. He was responding to a question on a letter he sent to U.S. President George W. Bush this week, the first by an Iranian president to his U.S. counterpart since Washington cut ties with Iran in 1980 following Iran s 1979 revolution. Washington has dismissed the letter as a diversionary tactic that did not address the problem of Tehran s nuclear ambitions. In the interview broadcast on Indonesia s Metro television, Ahmadinejad said of Iran s nuclear program: It has nothing to do with nuclear weapons, or military purposes. El Baradei, in The Netherlands to receive an award, said the Iran crisis could only be solved by addressing issues like security and trade as well as the question of nuclear energy. The only solution to the Iran situation is a comprehensive package through dialogue, through negotiation. The more we can go back to the negotiating table, the more we can address grievances from both sides, he said. Iran owes it to the international community to make sure that its program is exclusively for peaceful purposes. They have work to do with (the) IAEA to clarify outstanding issues. They have confidence building measures to take, he said. Ahmadinejad defended Iran s nuclear policies in a speech at the University of Indonesia and called Israel a creature of Europe that had no place in the Middle East. He has previously said Israel should be eliminated. After talks with Ahmadinejad on Wednesday, Indonesian President Susilio Bambang Yudhoyono said Jakarta had offered to help mediate in the dispute. Indonesia, the world s most populous Muslim country, is on good terms with Iran and other Middle East countries as well as with the West. Ahmadinejad is due to fly to Bali on Friday for a meeting of the Developing Eight group that also includes Indonesia, Nigeria, Malaysia, Egypt, Turkey, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Reuters
El Baradei urges compromise in Iranian nuclear row
