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Terrorists bigger threat than Iran, ElBaradei warns

The world should be more worried about nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists than about Iran's nuclear program, the head of the UN's nuclear watchdog agency said on Friday.

Mohamed ElBaradei, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said there was no military solution to the standoff with Iran over its determination to continue its uranium enrichment program.

ElBaradei, who spoke at length on Thursday with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, said he was "for the first time somewhat optimistic" that the Iran standoff can be resolved.

"I think everybody understands that we need to exhaust every possible route to find a diplomatic solution," he said.

But he said the risk that terrorists could acquire a nuclear weapon was of greater concern.

"Terrorists are a different thing," he said in an interview with the Dutch television program Netwerk. "The fear of terrorists acquiring nuclear weapons is much more, in my view ... than a country acquiring nuclear weapons right now," he said.

ElBaradei said that the international community needed an equitable collective security system that did not have an exclusive nuclear club.

Otherwise, he said, "we are going to see proliferation of nuclear weapons."

Key UN Security Council members agreed this week to postpone a tough resolution against Iran, giving Tehran another two weeks to reassess its insistence on developing its uranium enrichment capabilities.
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