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(BBC News) – Investigations into Iran’s nuclear programme will reach a “dead end” unless Tehran starts to co-operate, the UN nuclear chief has warned.
Mohamed El Baradei told governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that there had been no movement on issues that needed to be clarified. He said he was “disappointed” with Iran’s rejection of a deal that would see its uranium processed overseas.
He spoke ahead of an IAEA vote on a resolution critical of Iran.
‘Outstanding issues’
Addressing IAEA governors in Vienna, Mr El Baradei said his inspectors had made no progress on areas which needed to be clarified in order to verify the peaceful nature of Iran’s nuclear programme.
The IAEA chief, who steps down next month, spoke ahead of the vote on a resolution calling on Iran to halt construction of the recently-declared enrichment plant. It also calls on Iran to comply with Security Council resolutions demanding a halt to uranium enrichment activity and allow IAEA inspectors access to its facilities.
(LA Times) – Less than a year after authorities stormed the offices of Iranian human-rights lawyer Shirin Ebadi, taking sensitive documents and her computer, unidentified authorities have now allegedly taken the Nobel Peace Prize medal and diploma from Ebadi’s bank safety deposit box, said officials in Norway, which administers the prize.
Outraged officials in Oslo say the incident is unprecedented and has sent shock waves through the Norwegian foreign ministry.
“This is the first time a Nobel Peace Prize has been confiscated by national authorities,” Norwegian foreign minister Jonas Gahr Store said in a statement posted to his agency’s website. “The medal and the diploma have been removed from Dr. Ebadi’s bank box, together with other personal items. Such an act leaves us feeling shock and disbelief.”
Ebadi was awarded the prestigious prize in 2003 for her many years of legal work advocating on behalf of Iranian political activists, religious and ethnic minorities, women and children. She was the first Iranian to win the prize.
But intimidation and harassment from Iranian authorities have become a part of everyday life for Ebadi. She has had her home vandalized, apparently by members of hard-line political groups close to the government, had her office raided and shut down by police, and has received scores of death threats.
"But I will not let myself be reduced to silence."
