IAEA chief warns against nuclear plant attacks

Berlin: The chief of the UN nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said threats to attack nuclear plants on suspicion they would one day make bombs could undermine the Non-Proliferation Treaty.

Mohamed El Baradei told Der Spiegel magazine, "Unilateral military action undermines the international treaty framework. We're standing at an historic turning point."

El Baradei said a growing threat to peace was coming from proliferation and an increasing readiness to consider military action against nuclear targets regarded as suspicious.

A senior Israeli official said on Friday an attack on Iran looked "unavoidable" because UN sanctions seemed unable to prevent Tehran developing nuclear technology with bomb-making potential.

Israel and the United States have not ruled out a last resort attack on Iran to destroy its atomic programme, something critics including El Baradei say could ignite the Middle East.

Iran has said it is enriching uranium only for electricity, not weapons, and that the programme will remain under UN monitoring.

El Baradei said, "The willingness to cooperate on the Iranian side leaves something to be desired. We have pressing questions," alluding to intelligence reports that Iran has secretly researched ways of designing a nuclear weapon.

He said the Islamic Republic, which is deeply hostile to Israel, was "sending a message to the whole world: we could build the bomb relatively soon."