JERUSALEM (JTA) — The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog denied Israeli accusations that he has withheld information about Iran’s nuclear progress.
Mohamed ElBaradei, in an address Monday to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors, said "I am dismayed by the allegations of some member states, which have been fed to the media, that information has been withheld from the board. These allegations are politically motivated and totally baseless."
ElBaradei said Iran is continuing to enrich uranium and is not cooperating with the IAEA. He called on Iran to prove to the IAEA that its nuclear program does not have a military aim.
Also Monday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said he is willing to meet with world leaders about his country’s nuclear program, but said Iran "will continue to work on its nuclear program "in the framework of global regulations and in close cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. We will never negotiate on the Iranian nation’s obvious rights," Reuters reported.
The Obama administration, with the support of several world powers, has given Iran until mid-September to halt its work on plutonium enrichment.
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