Iran has every reason to distrust the West: ElBaradei

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Mohammad ElBaradei said Iran had "every reason to be distrustful" of western countries, including France and Germany, for not fulfilling their nuclear contractual obligations with Iran.

"Iran has a lot of reasons to be distrustful of the West .... There is a lot of distrust and that's a reality. We are not questioning that, " said ElBaradei at a press briefing in Berlin on Friday.

He was reacting to an IRNA question as to why Iran should trust countries like Germany and France which had not fulfilled their contractual obligations in the Bushehr nuclear power plant and the Eurodif uraniaum enrichment plant.

ElBaradei urged a "change of that environment of distrust."

The UN nuclear watchdog chief reaffirmed his strong opposition to western sanctions against Tehran, branding it a "dead-end street."

"Sanctions will only make things much worse and it will make the country (Iran) more hawkish," he said.

ElBaradei slammed western media for not reporting the truth on Iran's nuclear program.

Citing a recent report in the British daily Times of London on an alleged secret deal between ElBaradei and Iran, the IAEA head stressed it was "100 percent fabricated."

"This was a bogus story fed by one of the intelligence agencies," he said.

The media must no go for the hype but stick to the facts, ElBaradei added.

On the IAEA nuclear fuel offer, ElBaradei said he had still not given up on a postive reply from Iran.

He made clear that Tehran's acceptance of the offer would be "an unique
opportunity" that should not be missed as this would move the dossier away from "confrontation to cooperation."

ElBaradei voiced hope that an agreement could be reached "by the end of the year."

The IAEA chief is in Berlin following an invitation by the Willy-Brandt-Foundation
which is affiliated to the opposition German Social Democratic Party (SPD).


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