UN nuclear watchdog says Iran threat 'hyped'

The global threat posed by Iran's suspect nuclear program is "hyped" because there's no hard proof that Tehran has an ongoing effort to build an atomic weapon, the head of the U.N. nuclear agency asserts in a magazine interview.

International Atomic Energy Agency chief Mohamed ElBaradei told the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, published by a group of prominent scientists, that there's still cause for concern - just not panic.

"We have not seen concrete evidence that Tehran has an ongoing nuclear weapons program," the 2005 Nobel Peace Prize laureate told the Bulletin for its September/October issue.

"But somehow, many people are talking about how Iran's nuclear program is the greatest threat to the world," added ElBaradei, whose Vienna-based agency long has played a key role itself in raising international concern about Iran's intentions.

"In many ways, I think the threat has been hyped. Yes, there's concern about Iran's future intentions and Iran needs to be more transparent with the IAEA and the international community ... But the idea that we'll wake up tomorrow and Iran will have a nuclear weapon is an idea that isn't supported by the facts as we have seen them so far." More

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