VIENNA — The head of the United Nations nuclear inspection agency warned for the first time Thursday that Iran probably can enrich enough uranium to build a nuclear bomb in three to eight years, a judgment that sparked fresh concerns about Tehran's nuclear ambitions.
Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency, gave his assessment a day after a strongly worded IAEA report cautioned that Tehran had reduced its cooperation with U.N. inspectors while sharply accelerating its uranium enrichment efforts.
ElBaradei's appraisal of Iran's bomb-making potential matches that of U.S. intelligence, but the timing of his statement suggested he was taking a harder line on Iran than he had previously. Speaking to reporters at a conference on nuclear disarmament in Luxembourg, he urged Iran and the West to find a way to restart negotiations as soon as possible to avoid a "major confrontation."
"Iran needs to suspend its enrichment activities as a confidence-building measure but the international community should do its utmost to engage Iran in comprehensive dialogue," ElBaradei said.
In Washington, President Bush condemned the Tehran regime for ignoring a U.N. Security Council deadline to freeze its enrichment effort by this week. At a news conference in the Rose Garden, Bush said he had instructed Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to work with European partners toward stronger international sanctions against Iran.
Bush added that he intended to personally lobby Russia's president, Vladimir V. Putin, and China's leader, Hu Jintao.
"The first thing that these leaders have got to understand is that an Iran with a nuclear weapon would be incredibly destabilizing for the world," Bush said. "It's in their interests that we work collaboratively to continue to isolate that regime."
The Security Council imposed limited trade and travel sanctions against Iran in December, and stiffened them in March, giving it a 60-day deadline to stop enrichment. Russia and China supported both measures, but have expressed concern that a further crackdown may impede a diplomatic solution.
Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, declared Thursday that his nation would press ahead with enrichment despite international concerns and an armada of U.S. warships conducting military exercises off its coast. Ahmadinejad, who has insisted that Iran seeks only to produce nuclear energy for civilian purposes, said the West wanted to stop Iran from becoming a world power.
