US IAEA representative: Iran not likely to halt nuclear development programme

Greg Schulte, the US representative to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said on Monday that Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his leadership are prepared to ignore UN Security Council resolutions and international pressure regarding the cessation of its nuclear development programme. "Even though there is no obvious near-term requirement for uranium enrichment, they have made this an issue of national pride and perhaps even regime legitimacy. And so convincing them through our dual-track strategy to take a different approach is going to be tough," Schulte said while visiting the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington. Schulte said that the best diplomatic solution is to sustain the current strategy of sanctioning Iran, while offering incentives if the country heads towards halting its programme.

The US representative said that the international community's unity and agreement on the issue was an optimistic sign. "The amount of consensus I see here between the US, Europe, Russia and China is actually quite astounding. That is the one thing that gives me some hope that perhaps we can be successful," he added. Schulte, who is based in the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, was visiting the US in order to brief  US National Security Adviser Stephen Hadley and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ahead of a report on Iran's nuclear programme set to be released by IAEA Director-General Mohammed Elbaradei before the June 2 Board of Governors meeting.

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