ElBaradei told reporters he was "humbled and awed" at his appointment by consensus to a third term as director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and said he expected to be able to work well with the United States, which has also criticized him for being too soft on Iran.

ElBaradei said that when he had met in Washington last week with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, "We did not discuss the past. We did not discuss my election. We looked together forward. We agreed we have a lot of common objectives."

"We need to stem the proliferation of nuclear weapons. We need to ensure the authority of the agency in terms of verification. We need to have better control over the sensitive (nuclear) fuel cycle (in countries worldwide) and we need to have a more efficient compliance mechanism (with safeguards of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty)," ElBaradei said.

ElBaradei said his talks with Rice were like those "with every member state."

"I get their input. They hear my views and at the end of the day, I do what I believe to be the objective, impartial, factual way to proceed," ElBaradei said, clearly implying that he was retaining his independence of action.

The IAEA's 35-nation board of governors "has reached consensus and appointed Dr ElBaradei to a third term," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming told reporters. The decision is to be confirmed at an IAEA general conference in September.

The vote was held up for some six hours by Japan's objections to making it the first agenda item in a week-long board meeting that opened Monday but once this procedural issue was resolved the consensus decision took place almost immediately.

The United States had set the stage for this when it last week reversed its opposition to ElBaradei and said it was ready to accept a third term for him despite past policy disagreements over both Iraq and Iran.

Washington had in fact no backing from the 34 fellow members of the IAEA board for stopping ElBaradei, who is widely respected as a tireless and fair campaigner for non-proliferation, from continuing in office, diplomats said.

The United States had resisted a new term for ElBaradei, who has run the IAEA since 1997, saying two terms was enough for running an international agency.

But diplomats said ElBaradei had provoked Washington's ire for questioning US intelligence that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction under now deposed dictator Saddam Hussein and for not being tough enough on Iran, which Washington accuses of secretly developing nuclear weapons.

ElBaradei, 62, has said the "jury is still out" on Iran's intentions, even if IAEA inspectors have discovered that Iran hid sensitive atomic work for almost two decades until the agency's inspection of its program began in 2003.

ElBaradei said Monday that he will tell the board when he reports to it Tuesday that Iran has "respected its commitment with regard to suspension of the fuel cycle activities."

Iran has since November suspended uranium enrichment activities, the process that makes fuel for civilian nuclear power reactors but what can also be the explosive core of atom bombs, as a confidence-building measure for talks with the European Union on guaranteeing that the Islamic Republic's nuclear intentions are peaceful.

The IAEA is verifying the suspension as well as continuing its now over-two-year-old investigation into US charges that Iran is secretly developing nuclear weapons.

ElBaradei said he would report that "Iran has facilitated access to nuclear material sites."

But he said he would also report that the IAEA needs information "on the issue of the extent and nature of the centrifuge program," referring to Iran's working with sophisticated versions of the machines that enrich uranium.

ElBaradei said that closing the investigation, as Iran wishes, depends on Tehran.

"The ball is very much in Iran's court. The sooner they have provided us the information they need, the sooner we will be able to clarify outstanding issues," ElBaradei said.

ElBaradei said the IAEA was making "progress with regard to the contamination issue".

The agency is working to establish whether highly enriched uraniumits inspectors have found in Iran is from imported equipment, as Tehran claims, or from Iranian manufacture of such potentially weapons-grade nuclear material.

A diplomat close to the IAEA said the tests on centrifuge parts supplied by Pakistan tend so far to support Iran's claim that the contamination was from imported equipment.

But the diplomat said the tests have not been concluded.

All rights reserved. � 2004 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Related Links
SpaceDaily
Search SpaceDaily
Subscribe To SpaceDaily Express

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only