Europa NewsWire.
UN Photo/Paulo Filgueiras.
United Nations, November 02 2009 - IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei addressed the United Nations General Assembly’s 64th Session in New York.
ElBaradei outlined the ways in which the Agency has evolved over the last twelve years and the considerable progress made in bringing the benefits of peaceful nuclear technology to developing countries, improving their access to energy, health care, food and clean water.
While expressing disappointment that development areas of the Agency’s work remain under funded, and the continuing need for further legal authority to effectively undertake verification, safety and security activities, the Director-General was heartened that recent political developments could lead to a world free of nuclear weapons.
The Director-General advocated the use of diplomacy rather than military force and isolation in dealing with non-compliant states, and called for a new system with effective global mechanisms for conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacemaking.
He said that there were important lessons to be learned from dealing with Iraq and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the main one being that “we must let diplomacy and thorough verification take their course, however lengthy and tiresome the process might be. We need to carefully assess the veracity of intelligence information”.
ElBaradei reminded delegates that six years had passed since Iran had been reported to the IAEA Board of Governors for failing to declare material and activities to the Agency, in violation of its safeguards agreement. He urged Iran to be as forthcoming as possible in responding soon to his recent proposal, based on the initiative of the United States, Russia and France, which aimed to engage Iran in a series of measures that could build confidence and trust and open the way for comprehensive and substantive dialogue between Iran and the international community.
ElBaradei also said that the Agency couldn’t do its nuclear verification work in isolation. He added that it depended on a supportive political process, with the Security Council at its core. He stressed that the “Council needs to develop an effective, comprehensive compliance mechanism that does not rely only on sanctions, which too often hurt the vulnerable and the innocent.”
Source: UNTV.
