IAEA chief says new sanctions against Iran to be ineffective

VIENNA, October 18 (RIA Novosti) - New sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear problem would be ineffective and the problem can be solved only by direct negotiations without preconditions, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog said on Sunday.

Mohamed ElBaradei, general director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said in an interview with the Austrian daily Die Presse that the negotiations were the only possible way to solve the Iran nuclear problem as further UN sanctions against the Islamic Republic would only intensity confrontation.

Western powers suspect Iran of pursuing a secret nuclear weapons program, but the Islamic Republic says it needs nuclear power for solely civilian purposes.

According to ElBaradei, U.S. President Barack Obama has realized that negotiations with Iran are the sole possible solution and that the previous six years have been lost.

If there is the desire to achieve progress, then it is necessary to start negotiations without preconditions, the head of the UN nuclear watchdog told the paper.

Tehran is currently under three sets of UN Security Council sanctions over its refusal to halt uranium enrichment.

Iran and six world powers involved in negotiations on its nuclear program agreed in Switzerland at the start of October that the Islamic Republic would allow IAEA inspectors to visit its recently revealed new uranium enrichment facility but did not set a timeframe for the inspection.