Ex-IAEA chief urges more diplomacy to resolve Iran nuclear stalemate

The former director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Hans Blix called on the West to make more offers to Iran aimed at resolving the deadlock over it's nuclear program. Talking to the Deutschlandfunk radio station on Saturday, Blix made clear that not all diplomatic means had been exhausted yet in the Iranian nuclear case. He said there were comprehensive and highly interesting proposals on the table geared at settling Tehran's nuclear row. The former Swedish foreign minister pointed out that one interesting option would be for Israel to abandon its nuclear weapons in exchange for cessation of Tehran's uranium enrichment. Blix who headed the Vienna-based UN nuclear watchdog from 1981 through 1997, has repeatedly called for the creation of a nuclear weapons-free zone in the Middle East. He had also in the past highlighted the need to resume diplomatic ties between Tehran and Washington, in addition to providing US security guarantees for Iran as crucial elements of a potential diplomatic solution of the nuclear dispute.