ElBaradei and IAEA’s role in Iranian nuclear crisis
However, the U.S. and EU3's call for Iran to be referred to the Security Council has no grounds in international law. According to the Paris Agreement of November 2004, the EU3 formally reconfirmed that Iran's moratorium was ‘a voluntary confidence-building measure and not a legal obligation’. Under the watchful eyes of the IAEA, Iran broke the seals on its nuclear plant in Natanz early in January when the negotiations with the European Union failed as a result of their insistence that Iran give up its right to enrichment.
As the moratorium observed by Iran was not legally binding as stipulated in the Paris Agreement, the resumption of scientific nuclear research at the nuclear plant in Natanz provides no legal grounds for a referral to the Security Council.
After years of diplomatic wrangling and intrusive inspections, the United States, the EU and the IAEA have failed to produce any substantive and conclusive evidence supporting the allegation that Iran is developing an illicit nuclear weapons program. Nor have they produced any convincing reason to deny Iran its sovereign right to develop what it has made it abundantly clear is a non-military, civilian nuclear program.
The onus here is on the diplomatic maneuvering of Mohamed ElBaradei, the head of the IAEA, who will need to discern between fact and fiction, evidence and assumption. Will he be able to uphold the IAEA’s mission statement as the ‘the world’s foremost intergovernmental forum for scientific and technical cooperation in the peaceful use of nuclear technology… (that) carries out programmes to maximize the useful contribution of nuclear technology’? Or will the IAEA be rendered into another defunct institution whose legitimacy will be questioned (like the Security Council itself) by submitting to erroneous U.S. and EU guesswork? It is up to ElBaradei to maintain the competence and impartiality of this institution by doubting, investigating and considering all available evidence before transferring Iran’s case from agency to Security Council jurisdiction.
As 2006 opens, ElBaradei is to receive a host of awards celebrating values of humanity, peace and freedom both in Europe and the U.S. The awards follow the presentation of the Nobel Peace Prize to ElBaradei and the IAEA in 2005.
To remain worthy of such distinguished praise and recognition, ElBaradei has the duty and responsibility to assess Iran’s case without prejudice or resignation to coercion -- lest both he (and the agency) run the risk of forfeiting credibility. If Iran is haphazardly referred to the Security Council, ElBaradei has acted as a facilitator or promoter of conflict, instead of a Nobel Peace Prize recipient.