The head of the United Nations nuclear agency says it would be "madness" to attack Iran because of its nuclear program.
Mohamed ElBaradei was speaking Thursday at the end of a meeting in Vienna of the International Atomic Energy Agency. ElBaradei urged Iran to suspend uranium enrichment in order to ease a standoff with world powers.
The United States and its allies accuse Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons. Washington has not ruled out the use of force against Iran over the dispute, but says it prefers a diplomatic solution.
Tehran says its nuclear program is for the peaceful production of energy.
Meanwhile, Iran is threatening to further reduce cooperation with the U.N. nuclear agency if a new round of sanctions is imposed on Tehran for its nuclear program. Iran's ambassador to the IAEA (Ali Asghar Soltanieh) said for every action such as sanctions, there is a reaction.
The U.N. Security Council has already imposed two sets of limited sanctions on Iran for refusing to suspend uranium enrichment, which can be used to develop nuclear weapons or to produce energy.
Iran has already suspended voluntary cooperation with the IAEA, and is now only allowing inspections as required under an agreement with the U.N. agency.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
