IAEA head: Attack on Iran over would be "madness"

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency cautioned on Thursday that an attack on Iran over its refusal to freeze programs that could make nuclear weapons would be "an act of madness," in indirect warnings to the United States and Israel. IAEA chief Mohamed El-Baradei also said Iran would likely be running close to 3,000 uranium-enriching centrifuges by the end of next month - a number agency officials have described as the point of no return in the start of a large-scale program El-Baradei spoke at the end of a meeting of his agency's 35-nation board, a gathering that focused on Iran's refusal to heed UN Security Council demands that it freeze activities that could serve to make nuclear arms and provide long-sought answers on suspicious aspects of its nuclear program.