BERLIN (AP) - The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency said in an interview released Saturday that he is hopeful about ending the standoff over Iran's nuclear program, but he cautioned Iran against wasting ""a great chance — perhaps the last one.""

Iran agreed with the UN nuclear watchdog last month on a timetable to respond to lingering questions about its nuclear activities.
""There are hopeful, positive signals,"" IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei said in an interview with the weekly Der Spiegel, released ahead of its publication Sunday. ""For the first time, we have agreed with the Iranians on a kind of road map, a timetable according to which the outstanding questions should be cleared up.""
""By November, at the latest December, we should be able to see whether the Iranians are keeping the promises they gave,"" he said. ""If they did not do that, a great chance — perhaps the last one — would be lost for Tehran.""
The UN Security Council has already slapped two sets of sanctions on Iran for refusing to halt uranium enrichment. Iran says its program is solely geared toward generating electricity and has rejected the sanctions as illegal, saying it will not give up its right to enrichment under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.
""There are concrete elements of suspicion against Iran — so I am of the opinion that Iran has temporarily forfeited this right and must first win it back through confidence-building measures toward the international community,"" ElBaradei said.
But if the West focuses ""only on confrontation, then one can forget dialogue,"" he said