IAEA head receives award from Russia’s Foreign Ministry

The head of the IAEA, Mohamed ElBaradei, has been recognised for promoting international relations with an award from Russia's Foreign Ministry.

A report is expected to be presented to the UN Security Council by the beginning of October.

The man who said “if the world doesn’t change course – we risk self-destruction”, Mohamed ElBaradei, the Director General of the UN nuclear watchdog, the IAEA, has spent the last 10 years fighting for the purely peaceful use of atomic energy. In 2005, he and the organisation he heads were jointly awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their efforts.

The recipient of multiple international awards, Mr ElBaradei has just received another honour, this time from Russia’s Foreign Ministry.
 
“This award is recognition to his professional and diplomatic skills, his ability to find solutions to the most difficult international and urgent problems in the field of atomic energy,” said Aleksandr Zmeyevsky, Russian Representative to IAEA.

Mr ElBaradei is now well into his third four-year term, but in 2005 he nearly lost his post. The U.S. opposed his re-election, allegedly, after he questioned the grounds for the U.S. attacking Iraq. Now he is strongly opposing a military strike on Iran as a means to end its presumed nuclear ambitions.

“The military solution will not resolve the issue. In fact it might prompt Iran – even if they are not going for a nuclear weapon – to accelerate the programme to go for a nuclear weapon,” Mohamed ElBaradei said.
 
But the U.S. refuses to take the military option off the table and urges its allies to stop their dealings with Iran.

In June the Iranians, finally, said they were ready to answer questions on past nuclear experiments and to open a heavy-water reactor for inspection. Iran hopes it will help ward off further sanctions if the IAEA highlights Tehran’s co-operation in the Agency’s next report. The IAEA is meeting senior Iranian officials for a third round of talks on Monday and Tuesday.