Justus For All

Sanctions on North Korea, Iran could backfire: ElBaradei

New UN sanctions imposed on North Korea and under consideration for Iran could empower hardliners in both countries, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog agency warned on Monday.Mohammed ElBaradei, executive director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, said he remained unconvinced Iran was developing nuclear weapons and “absolutely” believed a nuclear deal with Pyongyang was still possible. “Once you start applying penalties, it brings hardliners in the driver’s seat,” he told an audience at Georgetown University, where he received an award.

I am curious as to who these hardliners are who are not currently driving Iran and North Korea. Is he saying that North Korea has someone crazier than Kim Jung Il in the wings or that Ahmadinejad and Khamenei are moderates?  If so, that would be news to me.

There really is a point when it doesn’t get any worse.

The Sydney Morning Herald article also goes into more detail about what ElBaradei means when he says he is ‘unconvinced’ about Iran building nuclear weapons:

IRAN has started testing new uranium enrichment equipment that could double the capacity of its small research and development facilities, says the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei.

The action appears to be a signal to the United Nations Security Council that Iran would respond to sanctions by speeding up its nuclear program.

…

Dr ElBaradei said he was not persuaded, as US officials were, that Iran’s ultimate goal was to build a weapon. But his agency’s officials believe Iran wants to have all the major components of a weapon in hand so it could build one in weeks or months.

So they are not trying to build any weapons, they are just building the peices of the weapons.  Thats ok then.