Iran: UN sanctions could stop willingness to co-operate

Iran today warned that UN sanctions could “destroy” its willingness to co-operate with an investigation of past nuclear activities.

Undeterred, the US said it still would push for new penalties unless Tehran scraps technology that could make the bomb.

As the two nations sparred near the end of a 35-nation board meeting of the International Atomic Energy agency, IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei urged both sides to compromise, declaring: “I don’t think we can afford to fail.”

The meeting, which opened on Monday, has been dominated by disputes over ElBaradei’s recent pact with Tehran committing it to stop stonewalling his experts and lift the shroud of secrecy on past suspicious nuclear work.

He has hailed the plan as “a significant step forward” that – if honoured by Iran – would fill in the missing pieces of Iran’s nuclear jigsaw puzzle; nearly two decades of atomic work, all of it clandestine until revealed by dissidents nearly five years ago. In Tehran, chief Iranian nuclear envoy Ali Larijani cautioned that “cooperation ... will be halted.”

He warned against any US military action – something Washington refuses to rule out – saying that would be “the last nail on the coffin of neo-conservatives.”